Westpac restructures divisions
Westpac has announced an organisational restructure which sees the creation of two new divisions - Australian Financial Services and Group Services - and the recruitment of Royal Bank of Scotland chief executive, UK Retail, Brian Hartzer.
The changes see the departure of Rob Coombe as group executive, Westpac Retail and Business Banking.
The new Australian Financial Services division, which encompasses Westpac Retail and Business Banking, St George Banking Group, BT Financial Group and Banking Products and Risk management, will be led by Hartzer. He will take up his new position next year.
Group Services covers technology, banking operations, property services and legal, and will be led by John Arthur.
Announcing the restructure today, Westpac chief executive Gail Kelly said the changes were part of a drive by the banking group to become Australia's leading financial services organisation.
"Over the past four years, Westpac group has become a fundamentally stronger company," she said. "We have successfully implemented the largest financial services merger in Australia's history, put in place a customer relationship-focused business strategy and a distinctive multi-brand approach.
Kelly pointed to the next phase of the banking group's strategy outlined in its results announcement earlier this month, including taking its multi-brand approach to the next level.
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