ME appoints new COO

Industry super fund-owned lender ME Bank has announced that it has appointed Rosanna Fornarino as its new chief operations officer.

Ms Fornarino was most recently an executive adviser for the financial services sector at multinational business consultancy group Infosys.

Effective 2 December 2019, Ms Fornarino will take over the role of COO from Angela Middleton, who will be leaving the company after more than eight years at the bank.

From this date, Ms Fornarino – who has over 35 years of experience in the banking sector, across a range of senior and executive roles – will oversee the operations of ME’s 500 operations team staff, with responsibility for customer service, change and process efficiency across the company, according to ME Bank.

The incoming COO spent 25 years at ANZ, working in a range of roles including those in retail banking, human resources, domestic and international payments and risk.

She also worked at National Australia Bank (NAB) for a decade in a series of senior operations and change implementation roles, in areas of lending and payment operations, logistics, process efficiency, offshoring and retail banking operations.

Ms Fornarino has an MBA from Deakin University and a Graduate Diploma of Strategy and Innovation.

Jamie McPhee, CEO of ME, welcomed the new appointment, commenting on her vast and varied experience.

“I welcome Rosanna to the ME team. I am excited to have Rosanna join ME as she brings a wealth of expertise to the table,” Mr McPhee said.

“Rosanna will be a valuable member of the leadership team, helping ME to drive efficiencies, increase productivity and improve the service we provide our customers.”

Ms Middleton said she is leaving the bank to pursue a “range of opportunities”, and wished Ms Fornarino the best in her new role.

“Early in 2019, I notified the bank of my decision to resign to pursue a range of opportunities, including board positions, coaching and mentoring and other advisory roles,” Ms Middleton said.

“I committed to stay until a suitable candidate was found and am very pleased to be passing the baton on to Rosanna Fornarino, who will be a great asset to the bank into the future.”

[Related: Optus chair joins ANZ board]