Westpac shares crash
Chief executive urged to quit over scandal
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.
The stock fell up to 3.4 per cent yesterday following a 3.3 per cent decline on Wednesday, just three weeks from an annual general meeting at which shareholders could deliver a second strike on executive pay and a board spill. The sell-off meant Australia’s second largest bank had, at one point, as much as $6.2 billion wiped from its market capitalisation in a little over 24 hours since AUSTRAC’s allegations were made public.
And Prime Minister Scott Morrison has said Mr Hartzer’s
future is in the hands of the Westpac board after the financial crime watchdog accused the bank of breaking money laundering and counter-terrorism financing laws more than 23 million times.
The claims include that the bank knew since 2013 of child exploitation risks associated with some payments to Southeast Asia but did not act appropriately until 2018 – and still does not monitor all channels for transfers potentially linked to the live-streaming of abuse.
“They should be taking this very seriously, reflecting on it very deeply, and taking the appropriate decisions for the protection of people’s interests in Australia,” Mr Morrison told ABC radio yesterday.
In a media briefing late
Burman Investments portfolio manager Julia Lee on how US-China relations are affecting the ASX
Wednesday, Mr Hartzer said he was “utterly horrified” by the allegations and accepted “the need for accountability” but refused to say whether he might quit.
Mr Hartzer, who has led Westpac since February 2015, blamed technical and human failings and said he had only been made aware of the matter a month ago.
That was before he answered MPs’ questions in Canberra on November 8.
Mr Morrison said AUSTRAC had done its job and now the board and executive of Westpac needed to do the same.
Shares in Westpac, which has five directors up for election at its December 12 AGM, dropped as low as $24.80 in early trade, their lowest since early February, before closing at $25.20.