Australia New Zealand Banking Group ANZ is likely to proceed with a major share buyback programme, if, as expected, it sells its ANZ Grindlays Bank Grindlays unit to Standard Chartered for A$2.5 billion $1.5 billion. The sale would result in a profit of around A$1.5 billion for ANZ, which has Grindlays on its books for around A$1.0 billion, almost doubling the bank's excess capital and paving the way for a buyback approaching A$3.0 billion - enough to buy in some 16% of its shares at current prices.
Market talk suggests ANZ chief executive John McFarlane plans to step down within the next six months and has given assurances shareholder...
