John McFarlane confirmed as new Westpac chair

Former ANZ Group chief executive, John McFarlane has been announced as the chair-elect of Westpac.

The bank confirmed to the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) today that McFarlane would commence his role as a non-executive director in February and succeed Lindsay Maxsted as chair on 2 April.

McFarlane was most recently chair of Barclays in London.

The big banking group said that as chair-elect, McFarlane would be responsible for appointing a permanent chief executive.