2 days ago
Top Commonwealth Bank exec quits after 'loud conversation' at the F1 - as photos emerge of senior staff partying on a yacht at a VERY awkward time for the corporate giant
A senior Commonwealth Bank executive has left the company after a complaint was filed about him over a loud conversation he had at the Australian F1 Grand Prix in Melbourne.
Until recently, Dylan Harrad-Chantler was general manager of Commonwealth Private, the bespoke division of Australia's biggest home lender that caters for high-net-worth individuals.
However, less than two years after taking the top job and in an indication of intrigue at the top ranks of Australia's $300 billion bank, the Daily Mail can reveal Mr Harrad-Chantler has abruptly left CommBank.
Mr Harrad-Chantler's departure - described as amicable - comes as photos leaked of the banker partying on a yacht on Sydney Harbour alongside other senior executives of CBA's wealth division at an inopportune time for the business.
The celebration was held on December 5, 2024 - the day after CBA's retail division scrapped plans to charge customers $3 to withdraw money from branches.
Photos showed bank staff gathered on a luxury boat featuring custom CBA-branded cushions and shoes.
A banking source said the display was 'just showing how out of touch CBA was back then and continues to be now.'
It is understood Mr Harrad-Chantler later told a staff member to remove LinkedIn posts featuring the photos.
An insider said Mr Harrad-Chantler had attended a party where Commonwealth Private-branded luxury items were displayed on a yacht - just as CBA's retail division was proposing to charge customers a $3 fee to withdraw money from a bank branch
Mr Harrad-Chantler's superior, Susie Grehl, Commonwealth Bank's executive general manager of wealth and private, emailed a note to staff on July 22 to tell them of his departure.
'Hi team, I am writing to inform you all that Dylan Harrad-Chantler, General Manager, Commonwealth Private, will be leaving the Group to pursue external opportunities,' she said.
'I would like to thank Dylan for his contribution to Commonwealth Private over the last 18 months.'
The Daily Mail does not suggest Mr Harrad-Chantler's departure was related to complaints and accepts his departure was to pursue external opportunities.
It's understood he caught up with former colleagues for drinks last week, at an event that was not endorsed by CBA.
A Commonwealth Bank spokesman declined to confirm Mr Harrad-Chantler's departure or comment on two anonymous complaints filed via CBA's SpeakUP channel.
One internal complaints document, obtained by the Daily Mail, alleged Mr Harrad-Chantler had been talking inappropriately at the Formula One race.
The complainant had been in attendance at the Formula One corporate box in Melbourne on March 16 and made a complaint on May 5.
'He was quite loud,' the anonymous complaint claimed.
'He thought he was talking alone to one of his staff, he was unaware of his surroundings.'
A separate complaint submitted anonymously on SpeakUP, alleged Mr Harrad-Chantler also talked too loudly at another event in Sydney in early 2024.
'Comments have been overheard,' it said.
The Commonwealth Private employee told the Daily Mail that Ms Grehl had called a special, eight-minute meeting last month to announce Mr Harrad-Chantler's departure.
'Susie informed us all of Dylan's immediate departure on July 22 in the late afternoon,' the source said.
Ms Grehl said experienced bank executive Maj Lolas would take over as acting general manager of Commonwealth Private 'while we complete a comprehensive recruitment process in the coming weeks'.
'I am here to support you and your teams during this time,' she said.
Mr Harrad-Chantler joined Commonwealth Private in October 2023 after two decades in management, including stints in charge of state and regional divisions with St George and Westpac banks and telco giant Optus.
He was named in Parliament by former New South Wales transport minister Gladys Berejiklian in 2011, before she became premier.
In a speech promoting the Liberal Party's North West Rail Link plan, she noted Mr Harrad-Chantler and his wife Kylie would benefit from the public transport initiative.
'Other supporters of our determination to get on with the job include Kylie Harrad-Chantler of Beaumont Hills, who would be happy to see more of her husband, Dylan, who has to drive into the city every day,' she said.
Mr Harrad-Chantler and the Commonwealth Bank declined to answer questions about the complaints lodged against him and boat party when contacted by the Daily Mail.
