New Year and new starters for Kiwibank Executive Committee

Today Mike Hendriksen joined Kiwibank as its as Chief Legal Officer and next week Elliot Smith begins as its new Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer.

Kiwibank’s CEO Steve Jurkovich said he was looking forward to the leadership experience the pair would bring to the New Zealand-owned bank’s executive committee.

“Mike Hendriksen is a highly qualified barrister and solicitor who has specialised in financial services for many years. He’s made the great decision to leave an Aussie-owned bank and join the local team,” Mr Jurkovich said.

“In particular, Mike will bring in-depth knowledge of regulatory issues. He’s been deeply involved in the response to the findings of the Australian Royal Commission that sparked both the FMA and RBNZ’s review of banking conduct and culture. Mike will be instrumental in helping Kiwibank consider our own changes – both in response to the changing expectations of our stakeholders, and for our own local regulators, who understandably want to see evidence of great customer outcomes.

“Elliot's background is in relationship banking, corporate finance, and product and business model transformation. Kiwibank is at an exciting and critical point. The financial industry is facing disruption and Elliot has an excellent understanding of how to make the most of those opportunities, from the perspective of the customer, our bankers and the implications on the Kiwibank strategy.

“Both Elliot and Mike bring a wide range of skills and experience that make them ideal for Kiwibank’s next phase of growth, which will see us have much bigger impact on the New Zealand banking markets.

“To support this growth phase, Kiwibank needs the best of both worlds – significant external talent like Mike and Elliot joining the team, and the development of our own internal talent. Luckily, we’re attracting the former and we have the latter in spades,” Mr Jurkovich said.

Mike Hendriksen starts with Kiwibank on Monday 14 January and Elliot Smith starts on 21 January. Both will be based at Kiwibank’s Auckland office.