In supporting the bank’s next strategic phase, Westpac has announced a leadership restructure following the separation of its consumer and business banking functions, with all changes taking effect from 1 August.
Following the separation, Chris de Bruin, who led consumer and business banking under one division for the last two years, has decided to leave the group to pursue new opportunities.
Commenting on his departure, Westpac chief executive officer Peter King said: “I want to thank Chris for his contribution to the bank. In particular, he led the digitisation of the consumer bank, including the delivery of major initiatives such as the digital mortgage and payment solutions.”
As such, Westpac has appointed dedicated group executives, with Jason Yetton stepping into the new role of chief executive, consumer.
Mr Yetton has a history spanning three decades with the group, including his time running Westpac’s retail and business banking division from 2011 to 2015.
Meanwhile, Anthony Miller, who has led Westpac Institutional Bank for almost three years, has been named chief executive, business and wealth.
“Since joining three years ago, Anthony has grown our institutional business while improving return. He is a seasoned banker, having held executive and client-facing roles at some of the world’s leading banks. Anthony is well-placed to drive growth in Westpac business banking,” Mr King said on his appointment.
“The new structure will give the leadership team a greater focus on growing their businesses and delivering for customers.”
With Mr Miller stepping out of his current role, Nell Hutton, current managing director, financial markets, at Westpac institutional bank, is set to succeed him.
Mr King said he was pleased to have someone of Ms Hutton’s calibre join the executive team.
“Nell is an outstanding leader who has delivered a strong performance during her time leading financial markets and will continue to build the institutional bank.”
Customer and corporate services combine
In other news for the group, Westpac is also establishing a stand-alone function to accelerate its technology simplification and will move operations to corporate services, creating an expanded shared services team.
The bank confirmed that Carolyn McCann is set to become group executive for customer and corporate services, a step up from her current role of group executive, corporate services.
Meanwhile, Scott Collary, who serves as group executive for customer services and technology, has been appointed chief information officer.
According to Mr King, the group has a significant technology and customer agenda currently underway.
“Scott Collary will continue to spearhead our technology transformation with a focus on streamlining our tech systems across the Westpac Group, while Carolyn McCann will lead an expanded division for customer and corporate shared services, including operations, helping to leverage the benefits of scale.”
