December 2024
Calls grow for Westpac to reveal energy transition plan thinking
Australian Ethical and Market Forces have put forward a resolution for a second year seeking more detail on the bank’s assessment of borrowers’ transition plans.
- James Eyers
November 2024
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Westpac’s departing King sees two pain points for Australia
Peter King leaves having steered Westpac through an impressive turnaround. But he sees two problems Australia needs to solve.
- James Thomson
Incoming Westpac boss Anthony Miller takes on bank’s tech rescue
A $3 billion-plus technology project known as Unite will become a key plank of the new Westpac boss’ agenda when he takes the reins next month.
- James Eyers and Lucas Baird
- Updated
- Earnings season
Westpac baulks at special dividend with US election in play
Outgoing CEO Peter King says that while the domestic economy is “showing positive signs”, it is a more uncertain dynamic overseas.
- Updated
- Lucas Baird and James Eyers
October 2024
Westpac’s Peter King keeps his promise on Tiwi Islands consultation
The outgoing CEO had said at last year’s AGM that he would visit Indigenous leaders on country to listen to concerns about Santos’ Barossa gas project.
- James Eyers
September 2024
- Updated
- Executive shake-up
Westpac’s new boss Anthony Miller sets down his vision
The former Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs investment banker, who joined Westpac in 2020, will succeed 30-year veteran Peter King in December.
- Updated
- James Eyers and Lucas Baird
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Westpac’s accidental CEO hands successor a potential booby trap
Outgoing boss Peter King has been impressive turning the bank around after a scandal. But his replacement Anthony Miller has one tricky repair job to execute.
- James Thomson
August 2024
Bank boss outraged by 10pc transaction fee for coffee
The Reserve Bank is already scrutinising the growing practice of adding a fee to the cost of a purchase to cover the cost of processing the transaction.
- James Eyers
Margins recover at Westpac as bank profit pressures ease
Chief executive Peter King said that the three months to June 30 was a “solid quarter” for the Sydney-based lender.
- Lucas Baird
July 2024
Westpac wins endless gag order on executive court dispute
Federal Court judge Elizabeth Raper said open justice was “a” – not “the” – fundamental principle of the Australian justice system.
- Max Mason and Lucas Baird
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Rock stars happy to discuss fixes, but super isn’t the big problem
Tinkering with super allocations is one thing, but it cannot replace our desire for bolder economic and tax reform.
- Anthony Macdonald
June 2024
Damning Tiwi Island judgment makes bank CEOs wary of in-person visits
Major lenders had promised to send bosses to meet traditional owners near Santos’ Barossa gas project. The Federal Court has made them reconsider.
- James Eyers
May 2024
Westpac CEO wants super on a level playing field
The bank boss said comments by Apollo Capital Management should force an urgent rethink on regulatory rules for super funds.
- James Eyers
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Westpac shows how banks are mortgage war casualties
Peter King says Westpac is hunting growth. But he won’t find it in old-fashioned mortgages and deposits, where returns have been brutally competed away.
- James Thomson
Westpac deflects downturn with special dividend
The Westpac boss says the return of $1.5 billion to shareholders is a sign of confidence in the Australian economy and the outlook for bad debts.
- Updated
- James Eyers and Lucas Baird
March 2024
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Westpac’s $3.5b tech catch-up is a warning to ANZ
Fifteen years after buying St George, Westpac is finally unifying its banking systems. ANZ investors will hope they’re not hearing about the Suncorp integration in 2039.
- James Thomson
Westpac plots multibillion-dollar tech overhaul to fix decade lag
The project will unite more than a hundred separate systems that have bloated costs since the acquisition of St George during the global financial crisis.
- Lucas Baird
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
It’s time for banks to take more risk, not less
While the prudential regulator sees more stresses ahead for banks, top CEOs worry the sector has become too risk-averse. They’ve got three big ideas to drive growth.
- James Thomson
ASX quizzes Westpac on persistent CEO exit speculation
The approach was informal, and came after the bank’s new chairman, Steven Gregg, met with analysts and investors. Westpac downplayed the suggestions.
- Lucas Baird
February 2024
Westpac cuts 132 jobs, half outsourced to India, Philippines
Westpac will shift 70 operational roles to three offshore contractors: Genpact, Tata Consulting Services and Concentrix. The union says the move will sap morale.
- James Eyers