Westpac chairman Lindsay Maxsted reiterated on Tuesday that there is no need to make more executives step down from their positions despite increasing pressure from investors and industry experts.
According to The Guardian, Maxsted's comments came after some industry analysts raised questions about whether the payout of $2.7 million CEO Brian Hartzer will receive after his resignation is too much.
Chief executive of the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors (ASCI), Louise Davidson, said that Hartzer and Maxsted's departures are a good move at this point. However, she noted that there may be more work that needs to be done to ensure the same problems don't take place again.
Maxsted did note after Australian financial intelligence agency Austrac revealed details of its investigations on the bank that he was "horrified." The agency found out that the bank violated finance laws 23 million times in various transactions that involved around $11 billion.
Austrac's revelations rocked the global banking sector last week, with investors on the Australian bank putting pressure on executives to revamp the ruling body and find ways to resolve the issue.
Westpac then announced on Tuesday that Hartzer will resign as the CEO and Maxsted will retire earlier than expected. Hartzer previously said after news of Austrac's findings emerged that he will stay and fix the problem.
While banking experts have their eyes on Westpac's failures to stop money-laundering groups from using its systems for transactions, the masses are more concerned with a bigger stain on the financial institution's name.
Austrac's findings also alleged that the bank was used to expand activities that were consistent with child exploitation. According to the Australian Financial Review, Westpac said it was only informed about the issue on November 15 and it received full details on the issue last week.
The intelligence agency unveiled a statement of claim that indicated Westpac failed to report transactions made by 12 customers with links to child exploitation in the Southeast Asian country of the Philippines.
The agency further revealed that the transactions not reported to the appropriate authorities did not just involve the Philippines but also other Southeast Asian regions. The bank said it will donate up to $54 million to help stop child exploitation around the world.
Meanwhile, the Labor party has called for a parliamentary inquiry into the details revolving around the money-laundering and child exploitation case that Australia's oldest bank is faced with, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.
It remains to be seen whether Westpac will be put in front of Parliament to answer questions on how the failures took place and what the bank will do next to prevent future incidents.
