Major bank chief to retire

Westpac chief executive officer Brian Hartzer announced yesterday that Westpac’s chief operating officer John Arthur has decided to retire from the group.

Mr Arthur was appointed as COO in December of 2011 with responsibility encompassing contact centres, procurement, property, analytics, banking operations and compliance.

Mr Hartzer commented that Mr Arthur has made a significant contribution to the organisation.

“Under John’s leadership, we have made significant progress in delivering our service revolution strategy. John has reshaped how our operations and support teams help our customer facing employees, in turn delivering an even better customer experience,” Mr Hartzer remarked.

“On behalf of Westpac I would like to thank John for his commitment and insight, and the support he has provided to me as CEO,” he said.

Mr Hartzer has also announced changes to the management of Mr Arthur’s portfolio after his retirement, which includes elevating the role of group general counsel and chief compliance officer to the executive team.

In effecting this change, Westpac’s general counsel and chief compliance officer, Rebecca Lim, will now join the group’s executive team and report to Mr Hartzer.

According to Mr Hartzer, Gary Thursby is set to take on the expanded role of group executive of strategy, transformation and business services.

George Frazis, chief executive consumer bank, will take responsibility for the group’s contact centres.

The new appointments and expanded roles will be effective from 1 October 2016.

[Related: New Westpac boss gets straight into it]