2020-04-04 IFR Asia

16 International Financing Review Asia April 4 2020

People

&Markets

Westpac’s King gets two-year reign

WESTPAC BANKING CORP said last Thursday it

WASûENTRUSTINGûACTINGûCHIEFûEXECUTIVEûPeter

King with the role for two years to bring

leadership stability amid the coronavirus

pandemic after the company was rocked by

a money laundering scandal.

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predecessor left late last year following

allegations the bank facilitated millions of

breaches of anti-money laundering laws

including enabling payments to known

CHILDûEXPLOITERS

Australia’s second largest lender had

carried out a global search for a permanent

CEO but chairman John McFarlane

said the company had determined that

management stability was vital in times of

economic stress and uncertainty.

McFarlane said given the level of

uncertainty triggered by the coronavirus

PANDEMICûhITûISûDIFlCULTûTOûMAKEûAûREASONABLEû

assessment of its potential impact at the

MOMENTvû(EûADDEDûTHATûTHEûBANKûEXPECTSûTOû

see a rise in its credit provisioning “this year

and probably beyond”.

A two-year contract is unusual for a new

CEO signing on to lead one of Australia’s

biggest companies. King had announced

his retirement just two months before the

money laundering bombshell dropped

in November, and agreed to delay that

retirement plan to take up the CEO reins.

King will lead the bank at a time when

ECONOMIESûANDûlNANCIALûMARKETSûAROUNDû

the world convulse from sweeping

shutdowns, including in Australia, intended

to slow the spread of a new coronavirus

that has killed nearly 50,000 people. In

Australia, about 5,100 have been infected

and 23 people have died.

The Australian central bank has

ENACTEDûEXTRAORDINARYûMEASURESûTOûPROPû

up the economy including quantitative

easing and buying bonds, and lenders

like Westpac have slashed loan rates and

frozen repayments to soften the blow of

a recession that most economists say is

inevitable.

Easing the burden on businesses,

however, brings with it rising loan losses,

Who’s moving where...

„ STANDARD

CHARTERED has

combined its

securities services

division with portfolio

risk management

to create a new

financing and

securities services

group within financial

markets.

Margaret Harwood-

Jones, who is global

head of securities

services, a division

that sat within

transaction banking,

and Emmanuel

Ramambason,

the global head

of portfolio risk

management,

spearhead the

combined unit.

They report to

Roberto Hoornweg,

global head of

financial markets.

„ SCHRODERS has

named Chris Durack

and Susan Soh as co-

heads of Asia Pacific.

The pair will formally

take up their new

positions in the

second quarter and

will retain their

existing roles as

head of Australia and

head of Singapore,

respectively.

They replace Lieven

Debruyne, who was

named global head

of distribution earlier

this year.

The UK-

headquartered asset

manager has also

hired Noriaki Kurose

as head of Japan

from Pictet Asset

Management. He

starts on May 1 and

replaces Shigesuke

Kashiwagi.

„ SOFTBANK GROUP

has appointed former

Goldman Sachs

banker Taiichi Hoshino

as head of a new

investment planning

department.

Hoshino is expected

to bolster the

investment team at

a time when CEO

Masayoshi Son has

received criticism

for his top-down

investing approach.

Hoshino is the second

SoftBank hire from

a group at Japan

Post Bank that was

known as the “Seven

Samurai” and tried

a more aggressive

investing strategy

that has since been

rolled back. The other

is Katsunori Sago,

also a Goldman

alumnus.

Return of the MAC clauses

Several Australian companies are reviewing

or even terminating takeover deals by

using a legal escape route because of the

devastating impact of the coronavirus, a

TEMPLATEûTHATûSOMEûLAWYERSûEXPECTûTOûBEû

replicated in other countries.

Three listed companies last month

triggered so-called material adverse change

clauses that can be invoked to end or

renegotiate deals, as the Covid-19 pandemic

has paralysed businesses and sent markets

crashing.

“Companies invoking the material

adverse change clauses to call off deals

is a question of when not if,” said

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Baker McKenzie’s international arbitration

practice.

Last month, fund manager CENTURIA CAPITAL

GROUP said it had withdrawn a A$174.8m

(US$103.15m) offer to buy New Zealand

property fund AUGUSTA CAPITAL, terminating a

takeover agreed in January and for which it

had raised A$80m. The acquisition was due

to close on March 31.

The deal’s documentation included a

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PROTECTEDûTHEûBIDDERûIFûlNANCIALûMARKETSû

DETERIORATEDûCHIEFûEXECUTIVEû*OHNû-C"AINû

told Reuters.

“Since entering into the bid

implementation agreement on January

29 there has been an unquestionable

deterioration of almost unrivalled

magnitude in markets and this and only

this caused the clause to be invoked,”

McBain said.

Dentist chain owner ABANO HEALTHCARE,

which has operations in Australia

and New Zealand, also told the stock

EXCHANGEûRECENTLYûTHATûAûGOVERNMENTû

order to close its network in New

Zealand for four weeks could trigger

the restructuring or even ending of a

NZ$300m (US$174.39m) takeover deal

WITHûPRIVATEûEQUITYûlRMûBGH.

“As a result of the four-week lockdown,

Abano has now given formal notice ... that

there are circumstances that may give

rise to a material adverse change,” the

company said.

Meanwhile, Australian credit score

provider PIONEER CREDIT, which is being

acquired for A$120m by CARLYLE GROUP, said

THEû53ûPRIVATEûEQUITYûlRMûHADûASKEDûFORû

information about its “business operations

and performance”.

Although the takeover has been signed,

the deal, which values the company’s

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