SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia and New Zealand Banking Group <ANZ.AX> said on Thursday its local head of retail and commercial banking is stepping down for personal reasons, as the bank ends a difficult year that has shaken up its executive ranks.
Ahead of its annual general meeting next week, ANZ said Fred Ohlsson is leaving his current post and taking an extended period of unpaid leave to return to his native Sweden with his family.
He is one of the many executives to depart at Australia's "Big Four" banks this year, some of whom were prompted to leave following revelations of misconduct at a semi-judicial inquiry, including the head of wealth management at National Australia Bank <NAB.AX>.
Mark Hand, the head of ANZ's business and private banking, will take Ohlsson's role, the bank said.
The bank was accused in June of criminal cartel conduct over a A$3 billion stock issue, in a landmark case being watched around the world.
(Reporting by Paulina Duran; Editing by Stephen Coates and Muralikumar Anantharaman)
