Inglis departure forces Westpac revamp

Westpac has announced changes within its newly ­enlarged consumer and business banks.

Westpac has announced changes within its newly ­enlarged consumer and business banks, following the departure of Bernadette Inglis to run Newcastle Permanent.

An internal Westpac memo, viewed by The Australian, shows head of BT advice and private wealth Jane Watts will step into Ms Inglis’s role as general manager of retail and premium within the consumer bank.

St George business banking head Cathy Yuncken moves to general manager of private wealth from May 1.

The changes follow a broader restructure at the top divisional level of Westpac, in which the BT wealth arm was folded into the consumer and business banking divisions. They included superannuation, private wealth, life insurance and investments.

That restructure became effective on April 1 and coincided with the flagged sale and wind-down of Westpac’s financial planning operations and the announced departures of wealth boss Brad Cooper and consumer bank executive George Frazis.

Some of Westpac’s financial planners — as many as 90 plus their support staff — will shift to boutique firm Viridian Advisory under the planning deal. But Westpac’s decision means the bank’s 800 salaried and aligned advisers must find a new home.

At Westpac’s group executive level, David Lindberg has taken over at the consumer bank and Alastair Welsh is acting as the head of business banking while a search for Mr Lindberg’s replacement is under way.

Yesterday’s memo, authored by Mr Welsh, says industry banking manager Stuart Zalunardo will act as St George general manager of business banking.

Mr Welsh says in the memo: “I am confident that our team is made up of the right people to lead our new business division and deliver the performance we need to be the leading relationship business in the country.’’

National Australia Bank is the most dominant local lender in the business lending and banking market.

All of the big four lenders are eyeing inroads in business banking as housing credit continues to slow. Business lending and a suggested $83 billion funding gap for small and medium-sized companies has already been a fiery topic this year.

The banks say they are open for business but stricter interpretation of responsible lending regulation has put a brake on lending.

Small businesses say credit is becoming too hard to obtain as banks tighten processes and focus more on serviceability measures.