Bonuses withheld at Westpac
Westpac’s most senior executives and some of its general management team will have their bonuses withheld until the big banking group fully investigates and determines who was responsible for its AUSTRAC breaches.
The withholding of bonuses was announced at the same time as Westpac announced a response plan to the AUSTRAC allegations declaring the bank was determined to urgently fix the issues and lift its standards.
The move was announced by Westpac chair, Lindsay Maxsted, who said that while the bank had acted in a range of areas ahead of the AUSTRAC statement of claim, the allegations indicated there’re was still unacceptable shortcomings.
“We accept that we have fallen short of both our own and the regulators’ standards and are determined to get all the facts and assess accountability,” he said.
“In the interim, the board has determined that either all or part of the grant of the 2019 Short Term Variable Reward will be withheld to the full executive team and several members of the general management team subject to the assessment of accountability.”
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