Brad Kitschke, credited with helping ride-sharing platform Uber to launch in Australia, has been appointed CEO of FinTech Australia, an industry association representing some 243 financial services technology companies. He takes over from Sarah Worboys, who has been the interim CEO since March. Kitschke's CV is skewed towards advocacy and policy areas, including head of public policy and government relations at Uber from 2014-2017. Kitschke said one of his priorities would be to drive FinTech Australia's push for an open banking framework to be up and running over the next 12 months. In addition, he will be promoting the Australian fintech industry as a genuine alternative to established financial industry players, in the wake of revelations in the Hayne royal commission. Buy-side firms must stop being complacent and urgently prepare for Libor's possible disappearance after 2021, warns Guy Debelle, deputy governor of the Reserve Bank. Appearing by video link at an International Swaps and Derivatives Association event in Hong Kong on 15 May, Debelle said awareness of the need to transition to alternative reference rates must improve across the market, Risk.net reports. Debelle noted there is not much recognition of Libor on the buy side. "They may be hoping someone will come along and fix the problem for them - I just don't think anyone should be confident that is going to happen." Macquarie Group is consolidating its private bank and private wealth businesses to concentrate its growth strategy on high net-worth clients, the Financial Standard reports. HNW clients are already the exclusive focus of Macquarie's private bank. Many advisers will be impacted by the decision, a factor acknowledged by Macquarie's wealth management division. "Macquarie is supporting these advisers in a number of ways, including by facilitating discussions with other firms and assisting with their transition," the bank said.