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- Westpac (WBC) has appointed new Chairman John McFarlane
- John has been a main board director of five of the world’s leading financial institutions.
- He replaces outgoing Chairman Lindsay Maxsted, who announced he would be retiring last year, following Westpacs money laundering scandal.
- John will officially begin on April 2.
- Westpac is only down a slight 0.24 per cent today, trading at $25.08c a share
Westpac (WBC) has announced John McFarlane will be its new Chairman, replacing Lindsay Maxsted as of April 2.
John will also step into the Non-Executive Director position on the board in February.
In the announcement to the ASX, outgoing Chairman Lindsay Maxsted spoke highly of his successor.
“Mr McFarlane is not only well known in Australia and New Zealand, but is a respected banking leader globally who brings to our organisation more than 44 years’ experience in financial services,” he said.
“He has worked across retail and wholesale banking and markets, as well as in life and general insurance, and has board and public service experience in this and other fields,” Lindsay told the market.
Lindsay was one of many senior personnel from Westpac who left the company following the money laundering scandal late last year.
John Mcfarlane’s background
In the announcement, Lindsay spoke in detail about John’s professional history.
“Over the past 27 years he has been a main board director of five of the world’s leading financial institutions, including as executive and non-executive chairman, chief executive and executive and non-executive director roles,” he said.
“He has a proven track record in delivering results, along with cultural and organisational change. Most recently, Mr McFarlane was Chairman at Barclays in London, which after the global financial crisis underwent a decade of challenge,” he said.
“During his four years as Chairman, the company was streamlined, repositioned and has sustainably returned to profit. Prior to this, he delivered a successful turnaround program at UK insurer Aviva, a company similar in scale to Westpac,” he said.
“Mr McFarlane is passionate about driving progress in the banking industry. He was Chairman of TheCityUK, the UK’s coordinating financial services body, which accounts for 11% of UK GDP and represents the interests of more than 1.3 million employees,” he added.
“In addition to his global career, Mr McFarlane brings a deep understanding of Australia’s banking sector, including delivering significant value at ANZ over his 10-year tenure as CEO, which also included 10 years as a Director of the Australian Bankers’ Association, two as Chairman,” Lindsay told the market.
John spoke about the reasons he took the role of Chairman, in a company dealing with 23 million anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing law breaches.
“People close to me know that on my return to Australia, I hadn’t intended to take another major leadership role. However, I’m passionate about the Australian banking sector, and I’m excited by the challenge of returning Westpac to its place as a leading global bank, following recent events,” he said.
“To some extent, the internal and external challenges ahead for Westpac are not dissimilar to those in my last five financial institutions, and I have therefore grown comfortable about my capacity to work with the Board and management to effect the necessary change,” John added.
“Nevertheless, I’m sufficiently battle-hardened to realise things can be tougher than you think and that in banking, nothing is ever certain. My focus initially will naturally be on resolving the company’s current issues but equally important, to position it as quickly as possible for long-term success,” he told the market.
John also spoke about his duty in finding a new CEO, who will take over from current acting CEO Peter King.
“The appointment of a world-class CEO can take time. In the interim, momentum is important. I will work closely with Peter King and the Board to continue to make any changes necessary. People should expect to see positive change during this period,” John said.
Westpac (WBC) is only down a slight 0.24 per cent today, trading at $25.08c a share.
