APRA's Executive and Governance
Chair
John Lonsdale
John Lonsdale was appointed as Chair of APRA on 31 October 2022 after originally joining as Deputy Chair on 8 October 2018.
In his Deputy Chair role, John was responsible for oversight of Australia’s banking sector. His responsibilities also included oversight of APRA’s work on culture and remuneration, building APRA’s crisis resolution capability and strengthening APRA’s collaboration with peer regulators.
John worked for Australian Treasury for over 30 years prior to joining APRA. He was a member of Treasury’s Executive and, in his role as Deputy Secretary, Markets Group, he had responsibility for financial system, consumer and foreign investment policy. In 2014 he led the Secretariat to the Financial System Inquiry based in Sydney. John also worked across key areas in the Treasury including budget policy, tax policy, retirement incomes and the financial system.
John is APRA’s representative on the Payments System Board, the Council of Financial Regulators, the Trans-Tasman Council on Banking Supervision and the Financial Stability Board’s Standing Committee on Supervisory and Regulatory Cooperation.
Deputy Chair
Margaret Cole
Margaret Cole was appointed Deputy Chair of APRA on 31 October 2022, after joining APRA as Executive Board Member on 1 July 2021. She is responsible for the oversight of the superannuation sector, and represents APRA at the International Organisation of Pension Supervisors.
Margaret graduated from the University of Cambridge with a degree in law and spent more than 20 years in private legal practice specialising in commercial litigation with an emphasis on financial services.
Margaret was formerly a partner at Stephenson Harwood and White & Case. She joined the UK Financial Services Authority (FSA) in 2005 and became Managing Director of Enforcement and Financial Crime and interim Managing Director of the Conduct Business Unit and a board member. Prior to joining APRA, she spent a year as PwC's Global Regulatory Leader based in Melbourne. Before that, she was PwC UK Chief Risk Officer and General Counsel from 2012 to 2020.
Margaret has also been an independent non-executive director of Toronto Dominion Bank Europe Limited, Chair of Toronto Dominion Securities Limited and a trustee and executive committee member of the Institute for Fiscal Studies. She is an Honorary Fellow of Murray Edwards College (formerly New Hall), University of Cambridge. She has also been awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Law from the University of Law, London.
APRA Member
Therese McCarthy Hockey
Therese McCarthy Hockey was appointed Executive Board Member of APRA on 31 October 2022, with responsibility for the banking sector.
Therese joined APRA in January 2018 as the Executive General Manager: Strategy and Chief Risk Officer. In December 2019, she was promoted to Executive Director of the banking division. This division is responsible for the prudential supervision of all authorised deposit-taking institutions operating in Australia and for the functional domains of market risk, credit risk, credit analytics, liquidity risk and capital management.
Therese’s experience spans Australia, United Kingdom and Europe in financial markets with responsibility across risk management, treasury, regulation, governance and technological change. Prior to joining APRA, she was Deutsche Bank’s Treasury Deputy Group Head and Global Chief Operating Officer based in London. Therese has also served on the Boards of Deutsche’s UK subsidiaries with governance over a range of businesses covering retail lending, wealth management, derivatives and custody services.
Therese holds a Bachelor in Mathematics, a Bachelor in Economics and Finance, and a Master of Applied Finance Degree from Macquarie University. She is also graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
APRA Member
Suzanne Smith
Suzanne Smith was appointed Executive Board Member of APRA on 31 October 2022, responsible for the general insurance, life insurance and private health insurance sectors.
She joined APRA in March 2019 initially as General Manager for Superannuation and then Executive General Manager for the Specialised Institutions Division. In December of that year, she was promoted into the Executive Director role with responsibility for the prudential supervision of superannuation funds licensed under the Superannuation Industry (Superannuation) Act 1993.
Prior to joining APRA, Suzanne’s career included senior roles across the superannuation and financial services industry in areas including life insurance, funds management, asset servicing, alternative investments, wholesale banking and property.
Immediately prior to joining APRA, Suzanne held the role of Chief Customer Officer Group Insurance at MLC Life Insurance. She has also held several senior roles within NAB, including acting as a director and Chairman of a NAB Subsidiary Board from 2011 to 2015.
Suzanne holds a Bachelor of Business with distinction (Property), a Masters of Applied Finance, and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Executive Directors
Executive Director, Life and Private Health Insurance and Superannuation
Carmen Beverley-Smith
Carmen joined APRA in March 2023 and holds the role of Executive Director, Life and Private Health Insurance and Superannuation.
She has had an esteemed career in financial services, spanning over 25 years. She has held diverse leadership roles at Westpac and Commonwealth Bank of Australia, including across risk, transformation and change, product and portfolio development, and sales and service.
Prior to joining APRA, she held the role of General Manager, Risk Transformation Delivery Integration at Westpac. This involved leading the group-wide implementation of a suite of solutions to uplift risk management capability and develop data, analytics and reporting.
Carmen leads with a values-driven approach and a particular interest in developing and mentoring talent.
She holds a Bachelor of Commerce and Accounting, is a certified Chartered Accountant and a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Executive Director, Policy and Advice
Sean Carmody
Sean joined APRA in December 2017 and holds the role of Executive Director Policy and Advice. Prior to this he led APRA’s insurance division.
He has over 20 years of experience across banking, financial markets and funds management. Prior to joining APRA, he held the role of General Manager, Risk Analytics and Insights at Westpac where he had responsibility across risk modelling and reporting, market risk and liquidity risk.
Sean has also held roles at Westpac as Head of Credit Risk, Head of Market Risk and the Head of Credit Portfolio Management in WIB. His previous experience includes working in funds management (Barclays Global Investors) and investment banking (Deutsche Bank).
His qualifications include a PhD in Pure Mathematics from St John's College, Cambridge.
Executive Director, Chief of Staff and Enterprise Services
Clare Gibney
Clare joined APRA in 2019 and holds the role of Chief of Staff and Enterprise Services. Prior to her current role, Clare was Executive Direction in APRA’s Policy and Advice division, and a senior leader in Banking Supervision and Resolution.
Clare has over 25 years’ experience in legal, regulatory, risk, and governance matters across financial services industries, including at National Australia Bank (NAB) and with Merrill Lynch in Australia, US and the UK.
Clare has held a number of directorships in corporate, financial services and cultural institutions, including currently with the State Library of Victoria. Her qualifications include a Bachelor of Arts & Law and a Masters of Law from the University of Melbourne, and graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Executive Director, Cross-Industry Risk
Chris Gower
Chris joined APRA in 2013 and holds the role of Executive Director, Cross-Industry Risk.
Chris has held various senior roles across APRA’s different functions. He has a deep understanding of prudential regulation, end-to-end supervision, enforcement and resolution activities.
Prior to joining APRA, Chris worked at the Bank of England for several years following the global financial crisis, and prior to that as a lawyer in London.
Chris has degrees in law from the University of Manchester and University of Cambridge.
Executive Director, General Insurance and Banking
Jane Magill
Jane joined APRA in May 2023 as Chief of Staff and Enterprise Services before being appointed as Executive Director, General Insurance and Banking in August 2024.
She has over 30 years’ experience across banking, funds management and commodity trading with broad risk management and commercial leadership experience in Australia, Europe and the Americas at institutions including Macquarie, Bankers Trust, Commonwealth Funds Management, Japan’s Sanwa Bank and Wood Gundy. She has held a range of other senior leadership roles including executive and non-executive director in both listed and private entities. Prior to joining APRA, Jane was Global Lead – Business Operational Risk, Commodities and Global Markets Group at Macquarie.
Jane is passionate about diversity, and has championed programs to improve gender inclusion, to celebrate cultural, linguistic and neurodiversity, as well as to highlight various social impact causes.
Jane has a Master of Arts (Natural Sciences) from University of Cambridge and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Executive Director, Technology and Data
Bruce Young
Bruce joined APRA in 2020 and is the Executive Director, Technology & Data.
He started his career at APRA as the General Manager of Operational Resilience and served as chair of the Council of Financial Regulators Cyber Security working group. Prior to joining APRA, he was Chief Risk Officer for various functions at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, including IT and Group Operations. He also held roles at EY Australia, South Africa and USA, and the position of partner for sixteen years.
Bruce has more than 30 years’ experience in managing business operations, with expertise in technology, cyber, operational and compliance risk, including audit and assurance and dealing with boards and regulators.
APRA's Governance Structure
Under its enabling legislation, APRA's governance structure comprises a full-time Executive Group of at least three and no more than five Members. The Executive Group is responsible and accountable for the operation and performance of APRA. The Executive Group meets formally on a monthly basis, and more frequently as required, to discuss and resolve the major policy, supervisory and strategic issues facing APRA at the time. It also holds management meetings with APRA’s senior management at least weekly for high-level information sharing and decisions on more routine supervisory and organisational matters.
Governance committees
APRA has a number of governance committees that support the Executive Group to oversee APRA’s core functions and capabilities, including the Audit and Risk Committee.
Audit and Risk Committee
The role of the Audit and Risk Committee (ARC) is to oversee the adequacy and effectiveness of APRA's risk management operations, financial and performance reporting responsibilities, systems of internal controls, and compliance with applicable laws and regulations.
The ARC is comprised of three external (independent) members. The committee is chaired by one of the external members (who also has a casting vote if needed).
The ARC is attended by the Chief Internal Auditor, the Chief Risk Officer, and a representative of the Australian National Audit Office. The Chairman of APRA, and other senior APRA executives, may attend by invitation.
The ARC usually meets four times per year. An additional meeting is held to review APRA's Annual Financial Statements.
The ARC’s Charter sets out the ARC’s objectives, authority, composition and tenure, roles and responsibilities, reporting and administrative arrangements.