APRA expands senior executive team in restructure

The appointments, which take effect from 1 July 2017, are designed to “equip APRA to continue to respond to changes in the financial sector”. 

New units and roles 

There are several newly-created roles and units as part of the organisational restructure. 

Melisande Waterford has been appointed to the newly-created role of general manager, licensing. 

APRA is reportedly reviewing its licensing and authorisation processes, and Ms Waterford will lead a new centralised unit tasked with ensuring APRA’s licensing activities are suited to “the increasingly diverse range of applicants that wish to engage with APRA”. 

Ms Waterford has been with APRA since its establishment in 1998 and, among other roles, served on the secretariat of the Financial System Inquiry in 2014. 

Sharyn Reichstein has been made manager, advice and approvals. 

This new unit will be tasked with enhancing APRA’s ability to provide “sound policy interpretation and advice to APRA’s frontline supervisors”, as well as “efficient and effective” regulatory approvals to regulated institutions. 

Ms Reichstein has more than two decades of experience in supervisory and policy roles with APRA. 

Gideon Holland has been appointed as a general manager in APRA’s diversified institutions division. 

In this role, Mr Holland will lead a number of APRA’s supervision teams responsible for the prudential oversight of Australia’s largest and most complex financial groups.

Mr Holland joined APRA in 2011, having previously been a senior policy advisor at HM Treasury in the UK. 

Jane O’Doherty has been appointed to lead a newly combined team comprising APRA’s governance, operational and insurance risk specialists. 

Amongst other things, this unit leads APRA’s work on culture and remuneration practices in the financial system, as well as examining issues such IT and cyber security. 

Ms O’Doherty is currently the deputy head of the financial regulation division of the European Central Bank, having previously worked at APRA between 2008 and 2015. 

As well as these changes, APRA has announced that Dr Katrina Ellis will assume responsibility for its new data analytics unit. 

This unit will combine APRA’s current statistics and industry analysis functions into a single team responsible for improving APRA’s analytical capabilities, and the provision of data to APRA’s supervisors and external stakeholders. 

Dr Ellis will be largely responsible for steering APRA’s current data modernisation programme, which will “substantially overhaul” the technology through which APRA collects data from regulated entities, and makes it available to the public.  

APRA chairman Wayne Byres commented: “The appointment of Melisande, Sharyn, Gideon and Jane bring valuable expertise, insights and experience to APRA’s senior leadership team. 

“These appointments, alongside the creation of the new analytics team under Katrina, are an important step in APRA’s continued evolution, strengthening not only our ability to deliver on our mission to protect the financial wellbeing of the Australian community, but to do so in a manner that effectively adapts and responds to the changing environment in which the financial system operates.”  

[Related: APRA’s new powers would make RMBS ‘credit positive’]