ANZ Trader Stirs Controversy After Online Criticism of China

(Bloomberg) -- A senior interest-rate trader at one of Australia’s biggest banks is embroiled in a controversy after he blamed China for the coronavirus pandemic and criticized the state of U.S. society and politics.

Bogac Ozdemir, a Singapore-based global head of credit at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd., wrote on LinkedIn in early March that “we are all in this mess because of China and I don’t believe anything from there,” adding that “Americans do not have a government anymore.”

After Ozdemir was attacked on English and Chinese language social media, ANZ issued a statement later in March saying the LinkedIn post did not reflect the bank’s views and “showed a distinct lack of judgment.” It promised a full inquiry.

In his first public comments on the issue, Ozdemir told Bloomberg News he wasn’t informed about the statement before it was published, and that he has since been offered a separation agreement by the bank.

“This matter relates to the appropriate use of an external communication channel by a person identified as a senior ANZ staff member,” the bank told Bloomberg in an emailed statement. A spokesman declined to comment on any separation talks though he confirmed that Ozdemir remains an ANZ employee.

The controversy illustrates the difficulty many companies face in policing their employees’ social media presence at a time of heightened global tensions. It also follows other social media firestorms over remarks by bankers seen as critical of China. UBS Group AG put its top economist Paul Donovan on temporary leave in 2019 after he referred to Chinese pigs in remarks on inflation.

Trump’s Speech

Ozdemir’s comments on China appear to be winning friends in Washington. He posted a picture of himself at the White House for President Donald Trump’s speech on Tuesday announcing that Hong Kong would lose its special status. He told Bloomberg he had been invited by a White House adviser after details of his dispute with ANZ appeared online.

Ozdemir said he was traveling in Turkey at the time of the ANZ media statement. Before that, he said he had agreed to delete the LinkedIn post, even though he didn’t see anything wrong with it.

When he returned to Singapore in late March, the bank told him to stay away from the office and later made offers to end his employment, he added.

“I got offered – twice so far – mutual separation,” Ozdemir said in the email, adding that he turned down the packages because he wants to contest the issue with ANZ, Australia’s fourth-largest bank. “My post did not have any insult or fake news in it,” he said.

Ozdemir provided a copy of the now-deleted post to Bloomberg.

While away from work, Ozdemir has continued to post on controversial topics, interspersing his views on markets with comments on international affairs, including why he thinks the World Health Organization is the “PR agency of China” and musings on the U.S. losing its founding values.

Ozdemir, whose full title is global head of credit, local markets and G4 rates trading, has been at Melbourne-based ANZ for seven years, according to his LinkedIn profile. He was previously global head of U.S. dollar swaps trading at Barclays Plc in New York, and has also held senior trading roles at BNP Paribas SA, Credit Agricole SA and Citigroup Inc., the profile shows.

Ozdemir’s more recent LinkedIn posts have included a disclaimer, stating that the views expressed in them “are entirely mine and not reflective of, or authorized by ANZ.”

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