Auswide Bank selects new leadership

The board of Auswide Bank Limited (Auswide Bank) has announced the appointment of Doug Snell as the company’s new managing director and CEO.

Mr Snell joins the lender having previously held leadership roles with Westpac, Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Bank of Queensland (BOQ).

The non-major bank said his appointment followed a “comprehensive and thorough recruitment process”, which was initiated after Auswide Bank’s current CEO and managing director Martin Barrett announced his retirement in April 2023.

In the lender’s annual report on Monday (23 October), it confirmed Mr Barrett would retire at the end of the year (31 December 2023) having joined the company in 2013.

In a statement, Auswide Bank noted Mr Snell’s background, having had a career spanning 25 years in domestic and international financial services and currently as the CEO of StockCo, a niche financial services company.

It commented that during his time at StockCo, he had been “instrumental in reinvigorating the business strategy”.

The lender stated that in a previous role as acting group executive for BOQ corporate banking business, he held balance sheet responsibility and oversaw total assets under management of approximately $27 billion.

It added that during his time with BOQ, Mr Snell “played a key role in the delivery of major digital transformation projects, including the Financial Markets Digital project and National Payments Platform project”.

Auswide Bank’s chair Sandra Birkensleigh said: “Mr Snell is a very strong, capable and inclusive leader with deep banking and financial services experience.

“We are looking forward to the next chapter under Mr Snell’s leadership and, on behalf of my fellow directors, we welcome Mr Snell to the board and look forward to working alongside him in the years ahead.”

The bank stated that Mr Snell will be “appointed as managing director and chief executive officer of Auswide commencing no later than six months from 25 October 2023”.

In his final managing director report, Mr Barrett thanked the bank for his time at the helm of the company.

He said: “I am humbled and honoured to have worked with our wonderful staff and customers that have contributed to the bank’s success.

“I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at Auswide Bank, and I look forward to continuing to watch the bank’s success.

“I have appreciated the experience, capability and support of our board led initially by John Humphrey and, in more recent times, by Sandra Birkensleigh. We have worked hard together to develop the bank we have today. I appreciate the guidance, the necessary challenges and the support.”

[Related: Auswide Bank eyes third-party channel to grow loan book]