Ex-Commonwealth Bank CEO Narev Returns to Corporate Life at Seek

(Bloomberg) -- Ian Narev, who stepped down as CEO of Australia’s largest bank a year ago after a money laundering scandal, has re-entered corporate life, joining job search site Seek Ltd.

Narev, who ran Commonwealth Bank of Australia for just over six years, will take up the newly created dual role of group chief operating officer and Asia Pacific & Americas chief executive officer, Melbourne-based Seek said in a statement Tuesday.

As well as having executive responsibility for the Asia Pacific and Americas business, Narev will work closely with Seek CEO and co-founder Andrew Bassat on strategy development and operating priorities for the overall company. He will start April 29.

Still, it’s a step down for the 51-year-old Narev -- Seek has a market value of A$6.1 billion ($4.3 billion), compared to Commonwealth Bank’s A$126 billion.

Narev presided over a run of record profits at Commonwealth Bank, but his achievements were overshadowed by a string of public relations scandals, culminating in the money-laundering breaches that led to a record A$700 million fine and an excoriating regulatory report that concluded the bank was complacent from the top down.

To contact the reporter on this story: Peter Vercoe in Sydney at pvercoe@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Katrina Nicholas at knicholas2@bloomberg.net, Edward Johnson

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