Former Reserve Bank governor Glenn Stevens will take over as chair of Macquarie Group and Macquarie Bank next year, replacing Peter Warne.
Stevens joined the Macquarie boards in 2107 as an independent non-executive director. He has chaired the risk committee since November 2019 and is also a member of the audit and nominating committees.
Warne, who has been a Macquarie Group and Macquarie Bank director since 2007 and chair of both boards since 2016, will retire next May.
Diane Grady, who has been a director on both boards since 2011, is also retiring after a board meeting scheduled for February.
Stevens joined the Reserve Bank in 1980, initially working in the research department. He was head of the economic analysis department from 1992 to 1995 and head of the international department from 1995 to 1996.
He was appointed assistant governor (economic) in 1996, deputy governor in 2001 and governor in 2006 – a position he held until 2016.
He was at the head of the RBA during the global financial crisis and played a role in Australia coming out of that period without falling into recession.
Writing in The Conversation in 2016, when Stevens stepped down from the RBA, Griffith Business School professor Fabrizio Carmignani said he brought a “risk management” approach to monetary policy, most notably cutting interest rates in 2008 even though Australia’s inflation rate was above the target 2 to 3 per cent rate at the time.
The RBA cut the cash rate from 7.25 per cent to 4.25 per cent between September and December 2008 and then to 3 per cent over the course of 2009. Only the Bank of England cut rates by as much as Australia over the period.
This style should play well at Macquarie, which is renowned for its focus on risk management.