August saw a number of key appointments and departures across Australia and NZ’s financial services sector, with noteworthy additions to ANZ, Citi, and AMP.

Australia

Appointments

ANZ has appointed Lisa Vasic (pictured) to the position of Managing Director, Transaction Banking and Tammy Medard to Managing Director, Institutional Australia.

ME Bank has appointed Xavier Saldoni to the position of Chief Risk Officer. Saldoni joins ME from Medibank Private, where he has also served as Chief Risk Officer since 2017.

Citi Australia has appointed Sarah Stewart to the position of Managing Director and Chief Country Compliance Officer (CCCO) for Australia and New Zealand. Citi veteran Gofran Chowdhury as Head of Banking and Wealth Management distribution.

AMP Australia has appointed Blair Vernon to the position of Acting Chief Executive following the departure of Alex Wade. Vernon currently serves as AMP New Zealand Wealth Management (NZWM) Chief Executive. AMP Australia is seeking a permanent replacement for Wade.

MLC Wealth has appointed David Clarke to the position of Chief Risk Officer. Clarke joins MLC after a seven-year stint as Queensland Investment Corporation (QIC)’s Chief Risk Officer. News of Clarke’s appointment preceded the announcement of MLC Wealth’s sale to IOOF this week.

ASIC has promoted within, appointing Warren Day to the newly created position of Chief Operating Officer. Day previously served as ASIC’s Executive Director for Assessment and Intelligence. The regulator has also appointed Zack Gurdon to the newly established role of Chief Risk Officer in July, joining from NBN Australia.

The ACCC has appointed Scott Gregson to the position of Chief Operating Officer. Gregson most recently served as Executive General Manager of the ACCC’s Merger and Authorisation Review Division.

The Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) has appointed Campbell Daff to the newly created position of Head of Membership Services.

Zurich Life has appointed Tina Beilby to the newly created role of Head of Operations, Integration. Beilby previously served as Zurich’s Chief Underwriting Officer. Peter Tilocca will step into the role of Chief Underwriting Officer, with the insurer also appointing Joanne Faglioni to the newly created role of Chief Claims Officer.

AMP has appointed Justine Gorman to the position of Head of Risk for Superannuation, Retirement, and Platforms. Gorman joins from NAB where she supported the bank’s wealth transformation program.

Cbus has appointed former Justin Arter to the position of Chief Executive.

Australian Unity has appointed Christine Yates to the position of Chief Executive for Retail. Yates joins from Bank of New Zealand/NAB where she served as BNZ’s Chief Customer Officer for its private, wealth, and insurance arms.

NAB Private has appointed Susie Grehl to the position of Transformation and Strategy Executive.

BNK Banking Corporation has appointed Brett Morgan to the position of Chief Executive.
Morgan joins from payments technology provider Inloop where he served as COO.

Board/Advisory

ANZ has appointed Paul O’Sullivan as the Group’s Chair, succeeding David Gonski, who announced his retirement. O’Sullivan will step into the role at the finalisation of the full-year results on 28 October 2020. Gonski served as ANZ Chair for the last six and a half years.

AMP Limited has also appointed Debra Hazelton as its new Chair following the resignation of David Murray.

Westpac has appointed Christopher (Chris) Lynch as Non-executive Director. Lynch will also serve on the Bank’s Board Audit Committee and Board Risk Committee.

Departures

AMP has announced the resignation of Chair David Murray and AMP Capital Chair and non-executive Director on the AMP Limited Board John Fraser following shareholder pressure regarding the company’s handling of allegations of misconduct against senior executive, Boe Pahari.

Pahari will step down as AMP Capital Chief Executive, effective immediately. He will resume his previous role as Global Head of International Equity.

AMP’s Chief Executive Francesco De Ferrari will assume direct leadership of the AMP Capital business on an interim basis while the company commences a search for a new AMP Capital Chief Executive.

Vivek Bhatia, QBE Insurance Australia Pacific Chief Executive, has announced his resignation from the insurer. Bhatia will take on a new role as Chief Executive and Managing Director at Link Group, a superannuation administration services and fund management company.

QBE Insurance has also announced the resignation of Chief Executive Pat Regan following an external investigation revealing misconduct.

New Zealand

The Financial Markets Authority (FMA) has appointed Paul Gregory to the newly created position of Director of Investment Management. Gregory re-joins the FMA from PIE Funds, where he currently serves as Chief Operating Officer.