Westpac director survives investor backlash over ASX ties

Corporate Governance - Westpac non-executive director Peter Nash was reelected to the bank's board despite a significant investor backlash, with approximately 40% of investors voting against his reelection at the annual meeting [1] - Nash required at least 50% support for reelection, marking the second high protest vote he faced in a month, as 28% of Mirvac Group investors also opposed his reelection [2] - Influential proxy advisors recommended against Nash's reelection due to his previous six-year tenure as an ASX director during a tumultuous period for the exchange [2] Regulatory Environment - The Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) is under increasing regulatory scrutiny due to a series of failures, including a trading and settlement outage last year [3] Fraud Prevention Efforts - Westpac CEO Anthony Miller emphasized the need for stronger action from social media companies like Meta to combat online scams, stating that banks cannot address the issue alone [4][5] - Westpac has invested over A$500 million (approximately $333.55 million) in scam and fraud prevention over the past five years, focusing on new detection tools and customer protection systems [4] Economic Outlook - Miller described the Australian economy as being in a "good position," attributing increased consumer spending and confidence levels to previous interest rate cuts [5] - The Reserve Bank of Australia has maintained interest rates at 3.6%, indicating that the next move could be an increase if inflation pressures persist [6]