Jan. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd., the third-largest Australian lender, named Bob Edgar to lead its expansion in Asia after Elmer Funke Kupper quit to join Tabcorp Holdings Ltd., Australia's biggest gaming company.

Edgar was tapped in October to head a new business unit responsible for achieving annual revenue growth as high as 9 percent. He'll keep that role and be responsible for the Asia- Pacific region, Chief Executive John McFarlane said in a statement today. Funke Kupper, 40, had been head of Asia-Pacific.

His exit ``isn't a critical thing in terms of implementing the bank's strategy,'' said Albert Hung, who oversees A$50 million ($37 million) of stocks at Alleron Investment Management in Sydney. ``ANZ has a strong management team in place.''

ANZ Bank stock rose 19 cents, or 0.8 percent, to A$24.39 at 2:47 p.m. in Sydney.

Last month, Melbourne-based ANZ Bank paid $120 million for a 19.9 percent stake in China's Tianjin City Commercial Bank and plans to buy a similar stake in Shanghai Country Commercial Bank later this year.

It also owns 10 percent of Vietnam's Sacombank, 29 percent of Indonesia's PT Panin Bank, 40 percent of a credit-card venture with Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co., the largest Philippine lender, and started a bank in Cambodia through a venture with Royal Group in 2004.

To contact the reporter on this story: Kevin Foley in Sydney k.foley@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: January 18, 2006 22:52 EST