Westpac’s former compliance head joins PEXA

PEXA Group Limited (PEXA) has announced that former Westpac group executive Les Vance will be joining the company in October as its new group chief operating officer (COO). 

The group’s current COO, Simon Smith, will move into an advisory role.

Mr Vance has more than 20 years of corporate experience, and was most recently the group executive, financial crime, compliance & conduct at Westpac, where he was responsible for the remediation and transformation of its management of financial crime.

Following the banking royal commission, he led the big four banking group’s transformation project, required under its APRA enforceable undertaking. However, earlier this year it was announced that his role would be subsumed into the responsibilities of the chief risk officer, with Mr Vance supporting the customer outcomes and risk excellence (CORE) program until his departure.

In his new position as PEXA COO, commencing in October, he will be responsible for the “enablement of a regulatory environment that reflects PEXA’s deep commitment to consumers and community, extending through to the group’s legal function as well as product, pricing, enterprise governance and delivery,” the company said in a statement.

Mr Vance will report to PEXA’s group managing director and chief executive, Glenn King, who commented: “Les is an incredibly credentialed executive, having worked in several senior roles across risk, transformation, legal, operations, investments and business partnering. 

“Having also worked across both the banking and legal sector, he is a tremendous fit for our business.”

Mr King thanked the outgoing COO for his work, stating he was “extremely grateful for the significant contribution Simon has made to date and I’m pleased he remains part of the team, continuing his ongoing support and contribution to PEXA”.

“PEXA is a world-leading initiative, and it is a testament to the team and the culture we’ve built that we attract talent of Les’ calibre,” the CEO concluded.

Speaking of his new position, Mr Vance said: “PEXA has fundamentally transformed the way property transactions are settled across Australia. 

“I’m excited by the opportunity to be part of building on that and delivering the growth from this next phase of PEXA’s strategy.” 

[Related: Westpac restructures exec team]