After three years in the role of Westpac Group chief risk officer, 21 years at the bank and 35 years in financial services, Alexandra Holcomb will step down and retire in 2018, according to a statement.
After joining the bank in 1996, she went on to hold senior executive positions in Westpac Institutional Bank, group strategy, and mergers and acquisitions.
Westpac Group chief executive Brian Hartzer said Ms Holcomb had played a significant role in “navigating the group through a challenging time in banking”.
“Her insightful and collaborative approach has been critical as we continue to respond to a changing economic and regulatory environment,” Mr Hartzer said.
“As chief risk officer, she leaves the organisation with a strong risk framework in place.”
He praised Ms Holcomb’s “major contributions” across a variety of roles at Westpac, including “driving innovation in payments”, “implementing our Asia strategy based on trade flows” and her role in “the acquisition of BT Financial Group”.
“We wish her all the very best for the future,” Mr Hartzer said.
Stepping into the role in 2018 will be former ANZ Group chief risk officer David Stephen.
Most recently, Mr Stephen was Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) group chief risk officer and has also held positions at Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse First Boston.
Mr Hartzer said he was “pleased to have someone of David’s calibre” join Westpac’s executive team.
“[Mr Stephen] is a highly regarded global risk and financial services professional with over 30 years’ experience leading risk teams in Australia, Asia, Europe and America, across retail, commercial and investment banking,” Mr Hartzer said.
“His experience in the UK will be particularly beneficial as we continue to face into a complex regulatory environment.”
