(28 November 2011 – Australia) Westpac chief executive Gail Kelly made some big announcements last week, among them an outline of an overhaul in the bank’s management and operational structure.Kelly appointed ex-ANZ senior executive Brian Hartzer to head up a new bulked-up domestic business, to include the flagship Westpac personal bank St George Bank and BT wealth management business under one giant division.
The changes are part of Kelly’s wider three-year reform plan which also involves a major technology upgrade and is aimed at delivering world leading shareholder returns.
”Having set up the next stage of this strategy I fully intend to deliver on it,” she said.
Together, the various businesses Hartzer will head up generate more than A$3.76 billion in earnings, or about two-thirds of Westpac’s annual profit.
Those operations will form Australian Financial Services, which would drive closer links between the current separate businesses and help sell their various products to the bank’s customers. The combination of the three businesses will also achieve a greater level of savings.
The Westpac restructure will cause the departure of Rob Coombe, one of the candidates who Kelly had put in place as a potential successor to herself.