Westpac has named "battle-hardened" banking veteran John McFarlane as its next chairman to help it recover from the fallout of a massive money laundering and child exploitation scandal.
Westpac has been handed a second strike on executive pay but dodged a potential board spill despite shareholders roasting the bank over its child exploitation scandal.
Westpac is bracing for a barrage of investor angst and the threat of a board spill at an annual general meeting likely to be dominated by the bank's money laundering and child exploitation scandal.
Westpac is allowing investors to withdraw from a $500 million share purchase plan it launched two weeks before a money laundering and child exploitation scandal hit the lender's share price.
Westpac chief executive Brian Hartzer is stepping down and chairman Lindsay Maxsted will follow as Australia's second largest bank tries to keep hold of customers appalled at its money laundering and child exploitation scandal.
OPINION: The Westpac transactions scandal exposes its dependence, and that of the other banks, on computerised processing to replace people and cut costs.
Westpac shares have hit a nine-month low after the prime minister urged Westpac to consider chief executive Brian Hartzer's position over the bank's money laundering and child exploitation scandal.
Westpac chief executive Brian Hartzer says he accepts "the need for accountability" after the country's second largest lender was accused of more than 23 million breaches of anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing laws.
Westpac is setting aside a further $260 million for customer remediation, taking its total to $659 million with fees-for-no-service refunds yet to come.
Westpac is selling its personal financial advice business as Australia's second-biggest bank exits the scandal-hit sector, and the bank's consumer boss George Frazis is set to leave.
Westpac has reported a flat full-year profit of $8.07 billion after customer compensation and legal costs contributed to a weak second half at its consumer and wealth divisions.
Big banks have warned that customers and shareholders will carry the cost of the federal government's surprise $6.2 billion levy on Australia's largest financial institutions.
Westpac chief executive Brian Hartzer says his bank is putting customers first by backing open data and denies it did the opposite by suggesting they join its poorly performing superannuation fund.
