John McFarlane

John McFarlane retired in 2007 as the chief executive of the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ANZ), one of Australia's leading banks, after a very successful 10 year stint, during which he managed to turn around the financial performance of the bank, and spearheaded an effort called 'Breakout', to culturally transform ANZ Bank.

The Scottish-born businessman began his career in manufacturing with Ford of Europe in 1969, and subsequently had a long and distinguished career in banking. He spent 18 years with Citibank, ultimately as head of Citibank in the UK and Ireland. In 1993 he became Group Executive Director of Standard Chartered Plc. based in London and Hong Kong. He now lives and works in Melbourne, Australia.

Mr. McFarlane enjoys music, reading, computing, modern art, films, and keeping fit. His interest in music began in the 1960s as the vocalist in a Scottish rock band (The Secrets with Geoff Davidson and Eddie Henderson), and later classical and folk singing. According to the anz.com website, Mr. McFarlane still plays the acoustic guitar for pleasure.