Balancing act as Matt Comyn takes reins at Commonwealth Bank

Matt Comyn takes over after a series of scandals at the bank and with the banking royal commission still ongoing

Matt Comyn the new CEO of the Commonwealth Bank, at the bank’s head offices in Sydney. Picture by James Croucher

Matt Comyn takes charge of Commonwealth Bank tomorrow, with the jury out on whether the new boss of Australia’s largest lender will put a broom through the organisation or carry on business as usual.

Taking over after a series of scandals and with the banking royal commission and an APRA investigation still ongoing, CBA needs Mr Comyn to be both. Since the 42-year-old father-of-three was picked three months ago to replace the outgoing Ian Narev, he has balanced change with continuity.

He has scrapped the selling of unsuitable add-on insurance policies that had attracted the ire of customers and regulators, and decided to replace three of his predecessor’s senior executives.

But the bank has sought to reassure the market that the most youthful boss at any of the big four banks — and the only Australian — is not about to stray from the course that brought an unbroken run of record full-year profits under Mr Narev.

“His mandate is to continue to make the necessary changes to ensure CBA remains a leading bank with an unwavering focus on its customers and delivering outcomes for shareholders, while achieving the highest operational standards, unequivocally fulfilling our regulatory obligations,” chairman Catherine Livingstone said when announcing his promotion.

After spending all but seven months of his 19-year banking career with CBA — with the last six in charge of the retail unit that accounts for half the bank’s profits — Mr Comyn knows all about the lender, both good and bad. It is the bad piled in his in-tray that will occupy much of his time after he formally assumes the top job at 6am on Monday.

CBA will be in Federal Court-ordered mediation with regulator Austrac until as late as May 25 over the allegations of money-laundering and terrorism-funding law breaches that prompted Mr Narev’s retirement.

APRA is still engaged in an inquiry examining CBA’s frameworks and reactions to scandals including the Austrac allegations, and there’s the industry royal commission that has heard of reckless lending, IT failings, miss-sold insurance, and other unfair treatment of customers.

Mr Comyn was among the executives to lose their short-term bonuses due to the reputational damage of Austrac’s allegations, but he has experience of cleaning up messes after leading CBA’s response and compensation efforts following the 2009 collapse of Storm Financial.

He is also looking for replacements for chief information officer David Whiteing, institutional banking and markets group executive Kelly Bayer Rosmarin, and human resources group executive Melanie Laing. With so much on his plate, Mr Comyn’s first high-profile public appearance might not come until CBA’s full-year results in August.

He has been making himself known to key players, however, having spoken with regulators and accompanying Mr Narev at the investor roadshows that followed February’s announcement of a $4.74 billion half-year profit.

-AAP