Westpac CEO steps down as money-laundering scandal rocks second-biggest Australian bank

This post was originally published on this site

© Reuters. Australia's Westpac Banking Corp's CEO Brian Hartzer speaks during a media conference in Sydney, Australia© Reuters. Australia’s Westpac Banking Corp’s CEO Brian Hartzer speaks during a media conference in Sydney, Australia

(Reuters) – Westpac Banking Corp (AX:) on Tuesday said Chief Executive Brian Hartzer will be stepping down, as Australia’s second-biggest bank faces the country’s biggest money-laundering scandal. Chief Financial Officer Peter King will be taking over as acting CEO, effective Dec. 2.

Financial crime regulator AUSTRAC last week accused Westpac of 23 million breaches of anti-money laundering laws, including allowing payments between known child exploiters, triggering calls for Hartzer’s resignation.

Hartzer has been with the company for more than seven years, taking over as CEO and managing director in 2015.

“We sought feedback from all our stakeholders including shareholders and having done so it became clear that Board and management changes were in the best interest of the Bank,” Chairman Lindsay Maxsted said in a statement.

Maxsted confirmed he will bring forward his retirement to the first half of 2020.

Disclaimer: Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. All CFDs (stocks, indexes, futures) and Forex prices are not provided by exchanges but rather by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual market price, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Therefore Fusion Media doesn`t bear any responsibility for any trading losses you might incur as a result of using this data.

Fusion Media or anyone involved with Fusion Media will not accept any liability for loss or damage as a result of reliance on the information including data, quotes, charts and buy/sell signals contained within this website. Please be fully informed regarding the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, it is one of the riskiest investment forms possible.

Add Comment