New ABA chairman Mike Smith will have Citigroup Australia CEO Stephen Roberts as his deputy in the biennial ABA leadership change. Roberts replaces former Bank of Queensland CEO David Liddy as ABA deputy chairman. CBA executive general manager of institutional equities and debt capital markets David Hancock has resigned, the Australian Financial Review reported. The report said that Hancock's resignation followed a restructuring of his division designed to cut costs, and that Gregg Johnston had been appointed as acting head of the institutional equities unit. The Rock Building Society and credit union MyState have welcomed Treasurer Wayne Swan's approval of their proposed merger. RBA assistant governor Guy Debelle has defended the 15 basis points fee that the RBA will charge for its Committed Liquidity Facility, the facility designed to help banks deal with Australia's shortage of sovereign debt. Debelle told a Sydney forum yesterday that liquidity had been "underpriced" before the global downturn.