ANZ behind the curve on tier one capital
ANZ has completed the A$3 billion on-market share buyback it started back in January last year.The 108 million shares purchased under the program represent a 3.7 per cent reduction in ordinary shares on issue.The bank's common equity tier 1 capital ratio was 11.3 per cent at the end of December.ANZ chief financial officer Michelle Jablko said the bank has built up its CET1 from 9.4 per cent in 2016.When the buyback was launched last year, the bank was aiming to buy back $1.5 billion of shares. The target was raised to $3 billion last June, when the bank received around $1 billion of reinsurance proceeds as a part of the sale of its Australian life insurance business. Jablko said at the time: "The progress of our transformation means we are able to return this surplus capital to shareholders while retaining appropriate flexibility to invest in our business and maintain unquestionable strong capital levels."On Friday Jablko said once funds were received from the sale of the bank's life insurance business, it would consider further capital management, "taking into account several factors, including actual and potential regulatory capital requirements and ongoing business needs".The well-known actual changes and potential changes to regulatory capital requirements are horrendous for ANZ and the biggest banks in the years ahead.In New Zealand, where ANZ is the biggest bank by miles, capital ratios of 16 per cent may soon be mandatory. In Australia, David's Murray's formula of top-quartile capital ratios for local big banks, summed up in 2014 as "unquestionably strong" has been overtaken by APRA's less radical proposals.Has the royal commission changed anything in banking? In the case of ANZ, apparently not.