December 2023
Westpac boss to fly to Tiwi Islands to discuss Santos project
After a four-hour AGM in Brisbane, Peter King has committed to visiting the Tiwi following concerns about consultation on Santos’ Barossa project.
- James Eyers
New Westpac chair takes the reins
He’s been the chairman of Goodman Fielder, Tabcorp and The Lottery Corporation. Now the businessman is taking on his highest-profile board position.
- Lucas Baird
November 2023
Hedge fund veteran talks lowest moment in Toscafund’s 23-year run
Before he reveals his next stock pick at the Sohn Hearts & Minds event in Sydney, Toscafund founder Martin Hughes discusses the struggles of running the fund.
- Joshua Peach
October 2023
- Updated
- Executive shake-up
Steven Gregg to succeed Westpac chairman McFarlane
The chairman of Ampol will take the top board seat at Westpac from next month and will be leaving his post as chairman of Lottery Corp.
- Lucas Baird
April 2023
Bizoids bust out the tartan at court of Fox
The trucking tycoon turned 86 on Wednesday, and marked the day as extravagantly as any self-respecting billionaire could be expected to.
- Myriam Robin
March 2023
Alan Joyce’s hostile takeover of Qantas
This is fast becoming a victory lap Qantas is stuck on...
- Joe Aston
February 2023
Veteran investment banker scores near $30m for Bellevue Hill home
Newly appointed Westpac board member and former chairman of investment banking at Goldman Sachs Australia Tim Burroughs has sold his Sydney home for around $30 million.
- Lucy Macken
Westpac chair John McFarlane cooling on Jes Staley
McFarlane surely grimaced when he read the latest revelations of former Barclays CEO Jes Staley’s “profound” friendship with Jeffrey Epstein.
- Joe Aston
December 2022
- Opinion
- 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.
- Tony Boyd
May 2022
Westpac board’s June meeting in London
Happily, the bank’s directors will land in London in the middle of the Season.
- Joe Aston
March 2022
Westpac chair John McFarlane is definitely not hands-on
Speaking in Melbourne on Thursday, the ex-ANZ chief was keen to stress his decidedly non-executive style.
- Myriam Robin
Nuclear ban prolongs fossil fuels: Westpac chairman
Nuclear power remains off the political agenda, say business leaders, with the shift to storing and transmitting renewable power set to dominate the discussion.
- Ayesha de Kretser
February 2022
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Westpac languishes at half the value of CBA after lost decade
Australia’s oldest bank was once the country’s biggest and best performing. Now, it trades at the largest discount to its big four peers in history.
- Updated
- Tony Boyd
December 2021
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Westpac gets the protest vote it deserves
The bank’s chairman, John McFarlane, tried empathy and pragmatism at its annual general meeting, but that didn’t calm unimpressed investors.
- James Thomson
Westpac hit with first strike as chairman faces irate shareholders
The frustrations of Westpac shareholders boiled over at a virtual AGM, targeting climate loans and other dramas that have contributed to a 20 per cent drop in share value over six weeks.
- James Eyers
November 2021
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Westpac’s Kiwi caning shows clean-up far from over
Westpac’s risk failures in New Zealand are a reminder that Peter King’s “fix, simplify, perform” strategy isn’t through phase one yet.
- Updated
- James Thomson
March 2021
Responsible lending changes to ease customer pain points
Bankers and the prudential regulator agree that winding back the responsible lending rules will reduce time to lending decisions as Westpac knuckles down to the turnaround task.
- James Frost
December 2020
Westpac wins over shareholders after scuttling bonuses
Westpac has avoided an embarrassing third consecutive rejection of its remuneration proposal with 97 per cent of votes cast in favour.
- Updated
- James Frost
- Opinion
- AGM season
Westpac's AGM will be another year of recriminations and apologies
The so-called new broom hasn't done enough to fix the mess at the bank. Its board is set to once again face the ire of shareholders when it fronts this week's annual meeting.
- Adele Ferguson
September 2020
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Westpac's board is tone deaf
The bank is not just going backwards in terms of women in its executive leadership team, it now has the lowest percentage of women on its board of any bank in Australia.
- Tony Boyd