The speculation was immediate and universal yesterday: Brian Hartzer, the incoming chief executive for Australian Financial Services division at Westpac, can expect to be the next managing director of the bank - and sooner rather than later.But will he be? Probably, though the issue of CEO succession at Westpac is sensitive, given speculation that the board has become restless over the bank's direction and has begun to search for a successor to incumbent CEO Gail Kelly - a view publicly aired for the first time in Banking Day in January.The management changes announced yesterday relate to personnel on the executive committee of the bank and do not explicitly concern the CEO.Hartzer has the credentials, having advanced through the management ranks at ANZ on the consumer banking side, to become CEO of the bank's Australian operations. He decided to make the move to the UK and the Royal Bank of Scotland in 2009.In fact, his new job at Westpac is more like his responsibilities at ANZ in the mid-2000s, rather than the wider role he held at the end of his time with that bank.Hartzer may not begin work at Westpac until the middle of 2012. The timing seems vague, with RBS seeking to retain his services for some months yet. RBS said in its announcement of Hartzer's departure that he had family reasons for making the shift.Another version of this story is that Westpac, with Kelly handling the task, persuaded Hartzer to return to Australia and take a job with a broad remit that includes all the retail bank, all the business bank, and wealth management as well.According to this view, Hartzer is merely a prospect to become CEO rather than a certainty, and the board will canvas other candidates.This view also leaves open the question of how many more years - if it is years - Kelly may stick around as CEO.Westpac's choice to reorganise its business and retail bank has already led to the departure of Rob Coombe, the group executive responsible for that business for the last two years.Jason Yetton, who has worked mainly in BT, though more recently on the banking side, will replace Coombe and join the executive committee, while reporting to Hanlon and then Hartzer.Three other members of the executive committee will retain their spots, while also reporting to Hartzer. These are: Rob Chapman, who runs the regional banks brands; Brad Cooper, the head of BT; and Peter Clare, who earns the new job title of chief operating officer of Australian Financial Services.The background to this reorganisation remains long-standing board disquiet over the operational achievements of Westpac's management since the takeover of St George Bank in late 2008. Hundreds of millions of dollars were squandered on integration projects deemed priorities by management but which failed to deliver.