The Australian bank has started scoping out potential candidates, following its CEO's unceremonious departure.
Westpac has appointed U.S.-based international executive search firm Heidrick & Struggles to find a replacement for departed CEO Brian Hartzer, according to an «Australian Financial Review» report on Thursday.
The publication called the role «one of the most scrutinized» in corporate Australia, and noted that the search firm might do well to lure a «homesick big-name banker working overseas,» as National Australia Bank has done successfully with new CEO Ross McEwan, who previously ran Royal Bank of Scotland.
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Hartzer resigned from the Sydney-based bank in November with a $1.8 million payout – his full salary for 2020 – following a devastating scandal in which financial crime watchdog Austrac accused the bank of 23 million breaches of anti-money laundering laws, including for payments between known child exploiters.
In the interim, chief financial officer Peter King has taken over as acting CEO of the bank, while chairman Lindsay Maxsted will push his retirement earlier to the first half of 2020 and director Ewen Crouch will not seek re-election.
