Commonwealth Bank of Australia shakes up executive team amid inquiry

[BENGALURU] Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) on Monday announced changes to its senior executive team as it deals with allegations of money laundering and a powerful judicial inquiry into the country's finance sector.

The bank said in a statement that Melanie Laing, group executive human resources, Kelly Bayer Rosmarin, group executive institutional banking and markets, and David Whiteing, group executive enterprise services and chief information officer, will depart in the coming months.

The changes come ahead of Matt Comyn taking over as chief executive from Ian Narev in April.

"Leadership transitions are inevitably a time of change in senior teams, as executives reassess their own plans, and the bank prepares for its future," Mr Narev said.

Mr Narev had announced his resignation last August after a money-laundering lawsuit led to calls for his exit.

Australia's finance sector is under intense scrutiny following years of scandals, leading to an independent commission of inquiry with far-reaching powers to interrogate bank executives and subpoena documents.

The inquiry heard last week that CBA had sold credit card insurance to about 64,000 customers who were not eligible to claim against it.

Shares of the bank were about 0.8 per cent lower on Monday morning, in line with the broader market.

REUTERS