Smith: GFC helped ANZ in Asia

" We couldn't do what we do in Australia without the franchise in Asia."
Mike Smith, CEO, ANZ

Speaking in the second part of his interview with BankingDay's Ian Rogers, Smith said ANZ did not anticipate how many competitors would withdraw from the region throughout the period.

“I think we got further than we thought we could [in Asia]," he said. “And that was basically on the back of the crisis. We used that opportunity."

“We're now ranked as the number four corporate bank in Asia and in 2007 we were number 27 or something."

Smith stood by ANZ's performance in Asia, saying the bank had transformed its presence in the region form an outpost to a real businesses, vital to the organisation's performance.

“We couldn't do what we do in Australia without the franchise in Asia," he said. “Or we couldn't do what we do in Asia without the franchise in Australia and New Zealand."

He also touched on the performance of the Australian government through the GFC and ANZ's famously unique logo. You can watch the video above to find out more.

Ian Rogers is the Editor of BankingDay. You can read more about the interview here.

You can see the first part of the interview here.