Leaders Getting Coffee: Sam Stubbs talks to Bruce Cotterill about leadership and banking

Sir John Key, chairman of ANZ Bank and ANZ chief executive Antonia Watson announce the departure of former chief executive David Hisco. Photo/File.

Simplicity founder Sam Stubbs says there should be a compulsory stand-down period before former political ministers join listed company boards.

Speaking to Bruce Cotterill on his NZ Herald podcast Leaders Getting Coffee, Stubbs said New Zealand should follow other countries and make it mandatory for former politicians to wait longer before becoming company directors. The OCED standard is to wait at least three years.

Stubbs uses the example of former Prime Minister Sir John Key, who was appointed chairperson of ANZ Bank, 10 months after leaving office.

“It’s not personal at all … but you have to ask the question, is it appropriate that an ex-Prime Minister is the chair of our biggest bank within a few years of leaving?”

Asked why former politicians shouldn’t be able to earn a living like everybody else, Stubbs said there is just too much risk involved.

“I don’t think it’s appropriate that they should be directors of any publicly listed company, let alone our biggest, most influential bank. There’s just something fundamentally wrong about that to me … particularly in a small country.

“There is a risk, it just comes with risk.”

Stubbs made the comments when discussing the Commerce Commission’s study into the competitiveness of the personal banking sector, after being directed by the Government in June.

Stubbs also said open banking, which allows the sharing of customer data between financial institutions, should be introduced now.

“I mean, come on, this started out seven or eight years ago in other OECD countries. We are still talking and vacillating about it. And you know, it’s the politicians that have fallen for the bank lobbying machine, which said, ‘We’ll look after it’.

“But of course, the opportunity cost of open banking for them is massive because it will encourage more competition.

“If we get more competition and we get a national heavyweight bank like Kiwibank, I think that would help a lot.”

Listen to Bruce and Sam’s full chat above.

Leaders Getting Coffee is a podcast produced by Bruce Cotterill with the NZ Herald. You can follow it on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.