Chanticleer

Westpac’s tricky boardroom leadership change

If the appointment of a CEO is a board’s most important decision, then a new chairman must rank the next most crucial. This big four bank is a case in point.

Dec 14, 2022 – 7.27pm

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John McFarlane’s decision to step down as chairman of Westpac Banking Corp in 2023 opens the way for succession planning that should revive the age-old debate about the merits of bankers versus industrialists at the head of the bank’s boardroom table.

McFarlane is a career banker who was parachuted in to replace chairman Lindsay Maxsted in early 2020 following the AUSTRAC anti-money laundering debacle that also claimed the scalp of chief executive Brian Hartzer.

Tony Boyd is the former Chanticleer columnist. He has more than 35 years' experience as a finance journalist.