Former APRA chair becomes latest addition to ASX board

Former chair of the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA), Wayne Byres, has joined the ASX board as non-executive director this week.

Byres joins the market operator with more than three decades of experience in financial services regulation, risk management, governance, and public policy. In his role as APRA chair between 2014 and 2022, he served on the Reserve Bank of Australia’s Payments System Board and was a member of the Australian Council of Financial Regulators.

Before this, he served as secretary general to the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, where he was responsible for facilitating the completion of international negotiations on several post-global financial crisis reforms to banking regulation.

In February, Byres was also appointed as a non-executive director of Macquarie Bank and is one of three bank-only, non-executive directors within the group.

His appointment is the latest in ASX’s continuing board renewal program under ASX chair Damian Roche who, since taking the role in April 2021, has overseen the appointment of five other non-executive directors.

In an ASX announcement on Monday, Roche said: “On behalf of the board, I am delighted to welcome Wayne. We look forward to drawing on his deep financial services and regulatory expertise.”

The market operator also confirmed that Byres replaces non-executive director Yasmin Allen, who announced her intention to retire from the board at the conclusion of the September board meeting.

Allen first joined the ASX board in February 2015.

“I want to thank Yasmin for her many years of diligent service where she always brought her commercial lens and the shareholder view to the boardroom. The board and I have benefited from her experience, judgement and counsel,” Roche said.

In February ASX said it had several “expense management” initiatives underway, including reducing the use of contractors and consultants, and optimising procurement strategy.

“We’ve been working through a range of business rationalisation measures that are intended to unlock capacity for our highest priority areas while also laying the foundations for a more sustainable cost profile,” ASX managing director and chief executive Helen Lofthouse said at the time.

Namely, the group also initiated a “targeted restructure” earlier this year, with an estimated 3 per cent of its non-project workforce to be impacted, with several divisions undertaking a reorganisation of team structures.

This is expected to save around $11 million in operating expenses.