Former Wisr CEO faces court, new CEO appointed

While details of the charges have not been made public, the company confirmed earlier this week that Mr Nantes is the subject of criminal proceedings brought by NSW Police.

Along with appearing before the court for the undisclosed matter today, Mr Nantes will also have heard for mention the NSW Police’s apprehended violence application taken out against him.

As these matters remain before the courts, the company has not provided commentary on the specifics.

However, Mr Nantes was terminated as CEO of the personal lender last week, with the board stating he was unable to perform his role at the ‘level required’.

The termination is not believed to have been related to any financial irregularity of the company.

Ahead of the release of its 2023 financial year results today (24 August), Wisr issued the following statement: “The Wisr board confirms that Anthony Nantes’ termination was not occasioned by any financial irregularity or regulatory contravention and the company continues to conduct business as usual.

“The Wisr board had formed the view over recent months that Anthony was unable to perform the role of CEO to the level required by the board and as such the board took action in terminating his employment agreement.”

Due to the family connection, the chair of Wisr’s board, John Nantes, has also been provided with a two-month leave of absence, at his own request.

He said despite not being involved in any of the decisions regarding his brother’s employment termination he decided to request a leave of absence “in the interests of good and transparent governance and to allow for the efficient deliberation on and management of issues associated with Anthony’s tenure as CEO and his termination”.

New CEO appointed

The company’s chief financial officer Andrew Goodwin has been appointed to the role of CEO, effective immediately.

Mr Goodwin joined Wisr in 2017 as chief financial officer having previously worked in investment banking at the Macquarie Group and as a partner at financial services firm Draycap.

The lender said he had previously been identified as its “lead CEO successor candidate” as part of the board’s “ongoing succession planning programme”, with the directors having “great confidence” that he was the ideal candidate to lead Wisr forward.

Wisr said the search for a replacement CFO had commenced and announced the appointment of Joanne Edwards to the position of chief operating officer.

Ms Edwards joined the lender in 2019 as chief risk and data officer after several executive roles at Commonwealth Bank.

Wisr said her “wealth of industry experience and deep credit and risk management expertise” had positioned her strongly to step into the expanded chief operating officer role.

During John Nantes’ absence, Matthew Brown will step into the role of interim chair, having been a part of the board since September 2021.

Mr Brown said: “The board appreciates John’s proactive approach in taking a leave of absence, to allow the board to address matters related to Anthony’s employment tenure and termination in an efficient and robust manner.

“John has at all times acted in the interests of Wisr and its shareholders and we appreciate him absenting himself to remove any perception of bias and promote shareholder confidence in the company’s governance processes.”

The ASX-listed lender will release its financial year results today (24 August). Its most recent quarterly update had shown that originations had been falling rapidly due to a “deliberate” moderation in growth.

[Related: Wisr loan originations down 71% in 4Q23]