Westpac Banking Corp on Friday said it will remove a two-year term limit on its newly-appointed chief executive officer, Peter King, allowing him to serve for longer as the bank looks to regain trust and overcome the COVID-19 crisis.
King took over as CEO of Australia's second-largest bank at a tumultuous time for the lender, coming in the aftermath of a lawsuit accusing Westpac of enabling millions of payments to people exploiting children, which saw his predecessor resign.
The bombshell lawsuit, which was settled in September for a record A$1.3 billion ($926.77 million), battered the lender's reputation and led to a series of other senior management changes.
"In the short time Peter has been CEO, he has made a significant contribution to Westpac, in a year of unprecedented change," said Chairman John McFarlane, another new appointee this year.
The bank has been undergoing a major overhaul, selling stakes in companies it owns, and earlier in October announcing its exit from banking operations in China and some other Asian markets to focus on its core domestic and New Zealand businesses.
King, who took on the CEO role on a permanent basis in April for an agreed two years, had been slated to retire this year.
($1 = 1.4027 Australian dollars)
(Reporting by Nikhil Kurian Nainan in Bengaluru; Editing by Tom Hogue)
