The Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) has welcomed accomplished CEO and non-executive director Swati Dave to its independent board. Her appointment is for three years, effective 1 September 2023.
Ms Dave has over 30 years of banking and financial sector experience and has held senior roles at National Australia Bank, Deutsche Bank, AMP Henderson Global Investors, Bankers Trust and Westpac. She was most recently the Managing Director and CEO of Export Finance Australia. Ms Dave has also served on a number of diverse boards including as a non-executive director of State Super, Australian Hearing and Great Western Bancorp,Inc.(USA).
“Ms Dave brings to the board a deep commitment to excellence, innovation and social impact,” AFCA’s Independent Chair, Professor John Pollaers OAM, said. “Her leadership and expertise have enabled her to make significant contributions to the various organisations in which she has served, and we look forward to benefiting from her experience and insights.”
The AFCA Board has an independent and expert group of directors with extensive financial services industry and consumer experience. Its eight directors, led by an independent Chair, bring together a breadth of knowledge across the multi-dimensional and highly complex industries AFCA covers: banking and finance, insurance, investments and advice, and superannuation.
AFCA provides free, fair and independent help with financial disputes for consumers and small businesses and their financial firms. In the past financial year consumers and small businesses sent a record 97,000 complaints to AFCA. It has helped secure $1.1 billion in compensation and refunds for complainants since it began work in November 2018.
“The Board is committed to ensuring that AFCA continues be an effective, efficient, independent and fair external dispute resolution scheme for financial services,” Professor Pollaers said. “Ms Dave’s diverse experience as an executive and board director will be invaluable as AFCA works to provide clear member and community value”.
Ms Dave said: “a fair and trusted financial services sector underpins our country’s continued success and I’m excited to be joining the board as we continue to evolve as a world leading ombudsman”.
Ms Dave replaces Jennifer Darbyshire, who was a founding board member of AFCA when it began operations on 1 November 2018.
“We thank Jennifer for the very important role she has played in helping to develop AFCA as a world-class ombudsman service,” Professor Pollaers said. “We were very fortunate to be able to draw on her extensive board and senior executive experience in governance, law, banking and risk.”
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About AFCA - The Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) is a non-government ombudsman service providing free, fair and independent dispute resolution to individual consumers and small businesses when they are not able to resolve complaints directly with financial firms in banking and finance, insurance, investments and advice, and superannuation. AFCA aims to help the parties reach agreement, but it can issue decisions that are binding on financial firms.
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