Steven Gregg to succeed Westpac chairman McFarlane
Key Points
- Why it matters: John McFarlane has announced he will soon retire from the Westpac board.
- Ampol and the Lottery Corporation chairman Steven Gregg will succeed him.
- Mr Gregg will retire from his roles at the Lottery Corporation and Challenger.
Steven Gregg will take the top board seat at Westpac after this year’s annual shareholder meeting, when the bank’s chairman, John McFarlane, retires after three years in the role.
Mr McFarlane said his successor was a “world-class executive and director who will bring a fresh perspective” to Westpac. Mr Gregg, an outsider to the big four banking world, is the chairman of Ampol and, as of Monday, the outgoing chairman of The Lottery Corporation.
Steven Gregg will retire from his director role at up-start financial services player Challenger. Jessica Hromas
Mr Gregg has “deep experience chairing consumer-focused companies, and a strong track record of disciplined decision-making and contributions to board oversight of organisations undergoing technology transformation”, Mr McFarlane added.
The appointment is one of the first stages in leadership renewal at the bank, with the race to succeed chief executive Peter King starting in earnest earlier this year with an executive reshuffle that made business bank boss Anthony Miller and retail bank head Jason Yetton the most likely internal candidates.
Mr Gregg’s most significant roles include his part in the 2019 rebranding of Ampol – formerly Caltex Australia – after the Chevron Group tore up the licensing agreement with the local petroleum giant. He was also heavily involved in Tabcorp’s demerger, rejecting opportunistic $3.5 billion bids for its gaming arm from the UK’s Entain and private equity firm Apollo.
Mr Gregg took on the chairman job at the newly formed Lottery Corporation in March 2022 after it had spun out of the troubled Tabcorp. However, it was announced on Monday he would retire from that role by early 2024 to ease his workload once in charge of Westpac. Mr Gregg has retired from the board of upstart financial services player Challenger, effective immediately.
“Whilst it is with regret that I will, in due course, be stepping down from my roles at TLC, I have every confidence that the company is in a strong position and well-placed to continue its journey,” he said on Monday.
Start new role next month
Challenger chairman Duncan West said Mr Gregg had made a “significant contribution”.
“Drawing on his commercial acumen gained both in Australia and overseas, his experience and dedication have been invaluable to Challenger, and we wish him all the best for the future,” Mr West said.
Challenger and The Lottery Corporation have yet to identify a replacement.
Mr Gregg will take up a board seat and become chairman-elect at Westpac on November 7, just over a month before he fronts shareholders for the first time and Mr McFarlane retires at the annual meeting on December 14.
Mr Gregg said: “From my observation, Westpac is in a period of transition. After the hard work of simplification over the past three years, now is the time to look forward and have a strong ambition.”
Westpac is in the middle of a long turnaround job, sparked by more than a decade of underinvestment in its technology and brands. Analysts hope legal action from the corporate watchdog for failing to respond to 229 hardship requests will push Westpac to invest more in technology.
The bank has struggled to protect its mortgage market share in the face of intense competition. But in the last three months, it has experienced an upswing where it has grown its loan book quicker than the broader market.
Shares dip
Westpac acquired almost $3 billion of mortgages in August, lending data showed this week, a jump of 0.6 per cent and near double the growth rate of the overall system. This boosted Westpac’s share of the home loan market to 21.4 per cent – biting into the all-dominant Commonwealth Bank.
The bank posted a $1.8 billion quarterly profit in the three months to June, though net-interest margins fell 0.04 percentage points to 1.86 per cent.
It will report its full-year results on November 6.
Mr McFarlane said he had delivered on his promises to shareholders.
“I made a commitment to shareholders to build a customer-focused digital bank and create a leaner, more agile and better-performing company. We have made great progress in achieving these goals and turning Westpac around,” Mr McFarlane said.
“I’m confident that Steven will build on that success, working closely with Peter [King], the executive team and directors.”
Mr McFarlane, a former chief executive at ANZ, became chairman of Westpac in 2020 as it reeled from an anti-money laundering scandal.
Regulator AUSTRAC had accused the bank of failing to properly report more than 19.5 million international fund transfers, keep appropriate records, and conduct proper due diligence on customers.
Westpac paid a $1.3 billion penalty, and the scandal forced the resignation of its then-CEO, Brian Hartzer, and prompted former chairman Lindsay Maxsted to bring forward his retirement.
Westpac shares were trading 1 per cent, or 21¢, lower on Monday morning at $21.47.
Introducing your Newsfeed
Follow the topics, people and companies that matter to you.
Find out moreRead More
Latest In Financial services
Fetching latest articles