George Frazis is stepping down from his role as Bank of Queensland (BOQ) chief executive with immediate effect, as announced by the bank earlier on Monday.
BOQ stated that it has launched a domestic and global search to replace Frazis with Chairman Patrick Allaway taking on the role of Executive Chairman in the interim.
“George Frazis joined BOQ in September 2019 and has overseen a return to growth in all key channels across the bank, the successful acquisition and integration of ME Bank, as well as achieving strong progress in the bank’s technology transformation,” Allaway said in his statement.
Neither the bank nor Frazis have provided an explanation for his departure after which he will receive a $1.1 million payout.
“However, the board has formed a view that different leadership is now required to ensure BOQ can continue to build a stronger and more resilient bank through future cycles.”
Earlier in the year The Australian Financial Review had reported that there had been disagreements in the style of leadership between Allaway and Frazis even though BOQ had praised a cultural turnaround plan led by Frazis. According to the interview Allaway had provided to AFR back in March the stakeholders were “disappointed” that a former head of business banking of BOQ had been hired without Frazis telling them that he was the godfather of his child.