CBA chief financial officer Rob Jesudason quits
Commonwealth Bank chief financial officer Rob Jesudason has resigned in the latest shake-up of the bank's senior ranks.
Alan Docherty has been appointed acting CFO while the bank undertakes an internal and external search for a replacement.
CBA said Mr Jesudason, who worked for many years in Asia before joining CBA in 2011, had resigned to pursue an external role in Hong Kong. Blockchain software publisher Block.one later announced Mr Jesudason would join it as group president and chief operating officer later this year.
Mr Jesudason's departure comes at a tumultuous time for CBA. The bank in March announced institutional boss Kelly Bayer Rosmarin, technology chief David Whiteing, and human resources executive Melanie Laing would all depart, leaving new CBA chief executive Matt Comyn with several major appointments to make in his early days as CEO.
As well as these departures, Mr Comyn must find a replacement for his current position as head of retail banking, CBA's largest division, and a leader to run its wealth operations, after the departure of Annabel Spring last year.
"We are making good progress with the renewal of the bank’s executive team and I expect to provide an update on appointments to my leadership team in the coming weeks,” Mr Comyn said.
Mr Docherty has been the CFO of institutional banking and markets and has held senior finance roles in group finance, group treasury and the business and private bank since joining CBA in 2003. Previously, he worked in PwC’s Financial Services practice in the United Kingdom, and with Arthur Andersen and Ernst & Young in Sydney.
Mr Docherty will take up his role on Monday, with Mr Jesudason leaving with immediate effect.
Block.one, which publishes the EOSIO blockchain software and sells the EOS token, said Mr Jesudason would be a member of its board with responsibility for scaling the group’s global operations.
“Rob has a proven track record of success in global financial services, where he has been involved in industry innovation and facilitated regulatory advancement enabling the adoption of new technologies,” Block.one CEO Brendan Blumer said in a statement on its website.
“His alignment with our organisational priorities of creating compliant, high-performance blockchain solutions is an ideal fit for Block.one, and is an exciting conclusion to our thorough search for the right individual.”
Mr Comyn is taking on the job of running CBA as the bank faces explosive allegations it repeatedly breached terror financing laws, and the bank and its rivals are under fierce scrutiny from the royal commission into financial misconduct.