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Westpac Banking Corp’s non-executive director Peter Nash has largely withstood an investor backlash tied to his previous role at the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), according to proxy votes disclosed during the bank’s annual meeting in Sydney. Despite concerns raised by influential proxy advisors, only about 40% of shareholders voted against Nash’s re-election to the board—well short of the 50% opposition required to block his return. Final voting results are expected later on Thursday.
Nash’s critics pointed to his six-year tenure on the ASX board during a period marked by operational failures and growing regulatory pressure. The ASX has faced public scrutiny following several high-profile issues, including last year’s trading and settlement outage that intensified calls for improved oversight of Australia’s market operator.
Outside the annual meeting, climate activists staged protests urging Westpac to reduce lending to fossil fuel companies—an issue that continues to attract public and investor attention. Inside the meeting, however, executives shifted focus to another pressing challenge: online scams. Chief Executive Anthony Miller urged stronger accountability from digital platforms, particularly Meta, saying banks alone cannot effectively combat the surge in online fraud targeting Australian consumers.
Miller noted that Westpac has invested more than A$500 million over the past five years in fraud-prevention technology and customer-protection systems. These efforts contributed to a 21% decline in scam losses this year and prevented more than A$360 million in potential customer losses. Still, he emphasized that a significant share of scams originates on social media and messaging platforms, making broader industry cooperation essential.
Australian banks have increasingly pushed for tighter rules on digital platforms. Meta previously stated it has removed around 8,000 deceptive “celeb-bait” ads—many using AI-generated images of well-known personalities—that were designed to lure consumers into fraudulent investment schemes.
