Westpac poaches leading CBA third-party executive

Westpac chief executive Brian Hartzer said Ms Cobley will provide Westpac with strong leadership skills, along with deep knowledge and experience in domestic and global financial markets, funding, risk and balance sheet management.

“Lyn is a highly experienced banker and is well-recognised for having successfully managed CBA’s global funding, liquidity and capital position during the GFC,” Mr Hartzer said.

“She has an outstanding track record in managing through complex financial, capital and regulatory issues, while developing innovative solutions for customers and financial institutions.”

Ms Cobley has replaced Rob Whitfield, who has decided to leave the group to seek new opportunities, according to Westpac.

Mr Hartzer thanked Mr Whitfield for his contribution at Westpac, which spans nearly 30 years.

“Under Rob’s leadership, Westpac Institutional Bank has been Australia’s number one institutional bank for many years across a range of measures, including for relationship strength and transactional banking,” he said.

Mr Whitfield will leave Westpac on 10 July, while Ms Cobley will start in September.

Ms Cobley served as Commonwealth Bank’s group treasurer from 2007 to 2013, where she was responsible for leading the team that managed the group's balance sheet, funding and liquidity operations, capital management and asset and liability management.

She previously served as CBA’s head of balance sheet management.

Her other roles have included head of securitisation at Citibank, head of securitisation at Commonwealth Bank and head of financial institutions at Barclays Capital in Australia.