Westpac will bring its group technology (GroupTech) IT division under a new group operating office led by former Bank of Montreal and ANZ technology executive Scott Collary.
The new group operating office will combine the bank’s current group operations and group technology functions.
The change of IT leadership came after current chief information officer Craig Bright resigned back in May.
Bright won’t actually leave Westpac until September 25, at which point Westpac group executive Gary Thursby will act in the CIO role.
However, Thursby himself is also headed for the exit (albeit in early 2021) and will ultimately hand IT leadership responsibilities over to Collary when he joins the bank “later this year”.
Collary comes from the Bank of Montreal in Canada where he has held the role of chief information and operations officer for its North American personal and business banking, private wealth and global asset management divisions.
Prior to this, Collary held the CIO role at ANZ and executive roles at Citigroup.
“I’m delighted to welcome an executive of Scott’s calibre to the Westpac team,” Westpac Group CEO Peter King said in a statement.
“Scott has extensive experience working in senior financial services roles leading large global teams.
“He has a proven track record of delivering large-scale transformation programs at major international banks that improve operating and technology performance.
“We look forward to Scott leading our technology and operations teams.”
Collary’s appointment is subject to regulatory approvals.
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