Canada's EQB brings back former finance chief Westlake as CEO

Canadian lender EQB EQB said on Wednesday former finance head Chadwick Westlake will return as its CEO, just months after he left to join software firm OpenText OTEX.

Westlake will succeed Andrew Moor, 65, who died last month. Moor is credited with transforming EQB into one of Canada's largest banks during his more than 18 years at the helm.

EQB, under Moor's leadership, expanded to C$134 billion ($97.94 billion) of combined assets under management and administration from roughly C$4.4 billion of assets under administration in 2007.

Shares of the Toronto-based bank rose nearly 2% on Wednesday following Westlake's appointment. In comparison, the stock had gained 3.8% this year, as of last close.

Westlake, who will take charge on August 25, was the company's CFO from 2020 to March 2025. He has also spent nearly two decades at EQB's Canadian peer Scotiabank BNS in various executive roles.

As CFO, Westlake had overseen EQB's acquisition of smaller rival Concentra Bank and alternative asset manager ACM Advisors, as well as the expansion of the bank's capital markets business.

"Given Mr. Westlake's history with the company, we believe that its trajectory will be largely unchanged and that a strategic review by the Board will no longer be necessary," Jefferies analyst John Aiken said.

Some analysts had speculated that EQB could get sold given recent vacancies in senior roles at the bank, including the CFO's position that was left vacant after Westlake's exit earlier this year.

The ongoing vacancy had raised concerns about continuity at the bank. Westlake's appointment, however, addresses these concerns, said Raymond James analyst Stephen Boland.

The company said chief risk officer Marlene Lenarduzzi, who was appointed as the interim CEO after Moor's death, will remain in the position and return to her original role upon Westlake's arrival.

($1 = 1.3682 Canadian dollars)