Six of 10 TSB Heartland Bank executives coming from Heartland with no place for TSB's CEO or CFO

Heartland Group Holdings has unveiled a leadership team for the proposed TSB Heartland Bank, which will report to Chief Executive Officer designate Leanne Lazarus.

Lazarus, currently CEO of Heartland Bank, will be joined by five of her current Heartland team and four members of TSB's leadership team. The TSB Heartland Bank leadership team, which excludes both TSB's CEO and Chief Financial Officer (CFO), has been endorsed by an establishment panel, which is set to be the combined bank's board, assuming Heartland's takeover of TSB completes as expected.

In June Heartland announced it had signed a deal with TSB's shareholder the Toi Foundation to buy all TSB's shares in a deal valued at $620 million. Both the Toi Foundation and Heartland Group Holdings' shareholders have now backed the proposed deal. The plan is to merge Heartland Bank, a subsidiary of sharemarket listed Heartland Group Holdings, with TSB.

Lazarus' proposed leadership team is; 

Kerry Conway as CFO. Conway is currently Heartland Bank CFO. 

Andy Wood as Chief Risk Officer (CRO). Wood, former Head of Supervision at the Reserve Bank, is currently Heartland Bank's CRO. 

Larissa Vaughan, Chief Legal Officer. Vaughan is currently General Manager of Regulatory Affairs and General Counsel at TSB. 

Rebecca Thomas, Chief Technology, Digital & Data Officer. Thomas is currently Chief Digital & Transformation Officer at Heartland Bank.

Lana West, Chief People & Culture Officer. West is currently Heartland Bank's Chief People & Culture Officer.

Penny Burgess, Chief Customer Officer for Retail Banking. Burgess is currently TSB's General Manager of Customer Delivery. 

Peter Griffin, Specialist Chief Customer Officer. Griffin is Currently Chief Commercial Officer at Heartland Bank. 

Nick Herbert, Chief Product & Proposition Officer. Herbert is currently TSB's General Manager for Product and Marketing. 

Molly Auva’a-O’Brien, Currently Auva’a-O’Brien is TSB's General Manager for Operational Excellence. 

'Too early to speculate about future roles'

There's no role in the TSB Heartland Bank leadership team for TSB's CEO Kerry Boielle or its CFO Matt Judge. Nor are TSB's Chief Digital Officer Roxanne Salton, Chief Risk Officer Graeme Scrivener, or its General Manager of People and Culture Steven Venables included. 

The only member of Heartland Bank's current senior leadership team not included is Alistair Scott, its chief auto and asset finance officer.

Asked about the Heartland endorsed leadership announcement, a TSB spokeswoman said it was "too early to speculate about future roles given the merger remains a proposal subject to the required approvals."

"Until the merger is approved and completed, TSB and Heartland Bank continue to operate as separate businesses, with their executive teams focused on their current responsibilities," the TSB spokeswoman said. "Future roles and transition arrangements for TSB Heartland Bank are still being shaped and will be shared if the merger is confirmed." 

However, Heartland Group Holdings CEO Andrew Dixson said the TSB Heartland Bank leadership team would bring together "complementary experience and perspectives" from both Heartland Bank and TSB. 

Meanwhile, Heartland Group Holdings will establish a new Group Chief Legal Officer role after the deal completes, with this role going to Phoebe Gibbons, currently Heartland Bank's Chief Legal Officer.

The plan includes the Establishment Panel becoming the TSB Heartland Bank Board once the deal's completed. Its members include current Heartland Bank Chairman Bruce Irvine, Dixson, John Harvey, Kate Mitchell, ex-BNZ executive Shelley Ruha and Simon Tyler, plus TSB directors Mark Darrow, TSB's current Chairman, and Mike Schubert.

Following completion of the deal, the Toi Foundation would have a 17.5% shareholding in Heartland Group Holdings.

Last month the Reserve Bank told TSB to get an independent report after TSB identified and reported issues to the regulator about how it calculates and reports liquidity and capital ratios. TSB has appointed Deloitte with a draft report due at the end of October, and a final report due with the Reserve Bank in November. 

Reserve Bank approval for Heartland's takeover of TSB has been sought. And the appointments of the incoming leadership team are subject to Reserve Bank non-objection. Heartland hopes to implement the deal in December.

"Integration planning, including transition arrangements, will be confirmed as and when merger implementation progresses toward completion," Lazarus says.

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