Media releases

Media Statement - Sedgwick Review

18 April, 2017
 

Westpac today welcomed the final independent review from Mr Stephen Sedgwick AO. This is an important area for restoring trust in the industry and Westpac will implement all of Mr Sedgwick’s recommendations.

 

The bank has several initiatives already underway including linking incentives for all tellers in our branch network solely to providing great service, removal of product specific targets for personal bankers, and rewarding personal bankers equally for service and sales.

 

For recommendations that relate to mortgages across all channels, Westpac will work closely with industry partners, including mortgage brokers and relevant regulatory bodies such as the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and Australian Securities and Investment Commission to implement these changes.

 

We agree that a focus on remuneration, culture and leadership is important and we will continue to identify opportunities to improve our products and services, in line with our strategy to be a great service company.

 

These are important steps that demonstrate our commitment to delivering great service and removing any perception of a conflict of interest in how our people serve customers.

 

Commenting on the final review, George Frazis, Chief Executive, Consumer Bank said: “This is a comprehensive review and we will implement all of Mr Sedgwick’s recommendations. We are pleased to see that the final report endorses the changes to remuneration structures that Westpac announced recently. This includes linking incentives for all tellers in our branch network to providing great service, removal of product specific targets for personal bankers and changing incentive rewards for personal bankers to equally weight service to customers and sales, with 50 per cent based on customer measures and 50 per cent on financial measures. This applies to all brands across the Westpac Group.”

 

“We also recognise some initiatives particularly those where third parties carry the primary responsibility for progressing matters, are likely to be more challenging and may ultimately require regulatory or legislative intervention,” said Mr Frazis.