(28 July 2004 – Australia) British Bank HBOS’ wholly owned Australian subsidiary BankWest has appointed Rodger McArthur as its managing director.McArthur had been acting managing director for several months following two years as BankWest’s general manager of risk management.
BankWest chairman Ian Mackenzie said McArthur was the right person to take the West Australian bank into the next phase of its development as a wholly-owned subsidiary of HBOS Australia.
McArthur was appointed chief executive of HBOS Australia’s group functions in May this year, after joining BankWest in 2002. He came to Australia from his role in the UK as head of network sales following the merger of Halifax and Bank of Scotland in 2001.
In August 2003 HBOS bought out the 43 percent of shares it did not previously own in BankWest for A1.05 billion.
The bank has signalled its intention to take on the major commercial banks on the east coast.