Westpac has announced that non-executive director Peter Nash will retire from its board, pointing to scrutiny of his past connections with auditor KPMG as the reason for his departure.
KPMG is under public and regulatory pressure over whistleblower allegations that the firm shared confidential company information with prospective private-sector clients to win audit engagements. Nash was a senior partner at KPMG until 2017, served as the firm's national chairman in Australia and held posts on both global and regional boards. He joined Westpac's board in 2018.
Westpac Chairman Steven Gregg said Nash had chosen to step down to avoid creating an ongoing distraction for the bank. "With recent attention on Peter's former roles and relationships at KPMG, he has decided now is the right time to retire from the board to limit any ongoing distraction for the company," Gregg said in a statement.
The decision comes after a challenging period for Nash with shareholders. He was re-elected to Westpac's board in December, but roughly 40% of investors voted against his return. That opposition reflected, in part, his previous tenure as an ASX director during a turbulent time for the stock exchange.
Local reporting noted that in 2023 Nash attended pitch meetings of auditing firms competing for Westpac's audit contract. Westpac subsequently moved its audit from PwC to KPMG. Martin Sheppard, who resigned last week as KPMG chairman, told a parliamentary hearing in mid-June that Nash had stayed at his house during the pitching process, and described the two as long-standing friends.
Gregg addressed the tender process and Nash's role within it, saying: "The structure of Westpac's audit tender process was robust. Peter declared his past connections with KPMG and was not on the selection committee." Westpac's statement quoted Gregg further to note that Nash acknowledged the potential perception of bias created by those relationships: "However he acknowledges the perception of bias that may have been created by his relationships."
In his own statement, Nash reflected on his time at the bank and said Westpac had "changed significantly" during his tenure and was well placed for the future. His statement did not mention KPMG.
Context and governance implications
The board departure draws attention to governance practices around auditor tendering and the handling of directors' past affiliations. Westpac's description of a robust tender structure and Nash's declaration of past connections were highlighted by the chairman, while media and parliamentary testimony have focused on the optics of Nash's presence during pitching activity and his close relationship with a former KPMG chair.
The episode intersects investor scrutiny, board composition, and the reputational exposure that can arise when major audit firms face allegations of improper conduct. For Westpac, the immediate consequence is a change in board membership intended to reduce distraction; broader effects will depend on shareholder and regulator follow-up to the KPMG matter.