Half of CBA's senior executives who report to chief executive Ian Narev will be female. Photo: Getty Images
Commonwealth Bank has poached Suncorp's chief risk officer, Anna Lenahan, as a new group executive, a hire that will mean women make up half of the 12 senior executive positions reporting to CEO Ian Narev.
It will make CBA the only big-four bank that has a half-female top executive committee, the group of managers who report directly to Mr Narev. This will be a first for the country's biggest lender and, it is believed, the big four banks.
Ms Lenahan, who has been chief risk and legal officer at Queensland's Suncorp since 2011, will join CBA as its new general counsel and head of corporate affairs.
Anna Lenahan joins the Commonwealth Bank from Suncorp. Photo: Supplied
She is​ filling a vacancy left by David Cohen, who became CBA's chief risk officer this year, after the retirement of Alden Toevs.
Before working at Suncorp, Ms Lenahan was a partner at law firm Allens Arthur Robinson, and she also worked as a Crown prosecutor at the Department of Public Prosecutions in Perth.
Several of the country's major banks have stated their commitment to lift the number of women in senior positions within finance, by changing a culture that can limit female career progression. However, the most senior executive positions are still dominated by men.
ANZ will have three women on its nine-member executive committee once new technology chief Maile Carnegie and finance chief Michelle Jablko have started in their positions.
Westpac, which was the first major Australian bank to be led by a woman under former boss Gail Kelly, has three women on its 12-member senior executive team. National Australia Bank has four women among its nine top managers who report to the CEO.
"We are delighted to welcome Anna to CBA's executive committee. In addition to her legal, regulatory, risk and governance expertise, she has shown herself to be a values-driven leader with strong commercial judgment," Mr Narev said in a statement.
At Suncorp, Ms Lenahan played a key role in moves to raise capital and sell off troubled loans in its "non-core" portfolio. Suncorp said it would look internally and outside the bank for her replacement.
