Brent Taylor
San Diego
Summary
High performing Chartered Accountant (CPA equivalent) with varied and extensive experience in Finance support functions and Project delivery in large listed financial institutions. Creates productive partnerships with business stakeholders and partners throughout the organisation, always maintains a strong control mindset and objective point of view. A passionate people leader who is committed to developing high-performing teams and supporting their personal and career development.
Developed leadership and strategic planning skills in dynamic and fast-paced environment. Possesses keen ability to manage projects and optimize operational processes, ensuring efficiency and effectiveness. Seeking to transition into new field, bringing focus on driving success and fostering teamwork.
Overview
29
29
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
Executive Manager – CommSec FR&A, Executive Advisor – BB CFO
Commonwealth Bank of Australia
07.2013 - Current
- I currently head up the Finance team that is responsible for financial control, management reporting and legal entity control for the CommSec business; a team of5
- The CommSec brokerage business operates out of a regulated entity which requires rigorous and disciplined financial controls; including regular interaction with the CommSec Board composed of EGMs from around the CBA Group and Mike Vacy-Lyle, GE of Business Bank
- I have also taken on additional responsibilities as the Executive Advisory to the BB CFO, focusing on team culture
- Key achievements:
- Demonstrated courage by having difficult cost management discussions with the CommSec EGM
- Cost awareness is now front of mind for the extended CommSec leadership team
- Recent restructures, implemented with Finance input, will save over $5m per annum
- Excellence Team Award for the successful divestment of the wholesale AUSIEX entity
- As a result of the strong financial control function within my team, the completion payment was received without any adjustments and secured the Group $4m in additional cash
- The Chairman of the CommSec Board complimented the Finance team for delivering the most efficient year-end process he had seen (FY21’s results)
- Successfully integrated the subsidiary reporting team from Group Finance into my direct team and ensured that they remained an effective shared-service function for all of BB’s subsidiaries
- Designed and implemented a weekly dashboard for the CommSec LT that contains KPI and other key performance metrics
- This report forms the basis of their weekly meeting and is an aspirational state for other BB finance teams
- Delivering results under pressure e.g
- Updating the CommSec entity’s liquidity plan and forecasts for CommSec Board approval to support the ASX listing crypto exchange trading products in a matter of days (the ASX did not provide the normal consultation period)
- Trusted delegate for the GM Product, Chris Moriarty, to attend Financial Risk, Non-Financial Risk, Product Governance and Product Pricing meetings
- My team continues to achieve engagement scores above that of the CBA Group and I ensure that I hire and develop a successful and diverse team, and
- BB Finance has a100% (excluding staff on leave) completion rate for “Respect Lives Here” training following an awareness campaign I devised and delivered in my capacity as EA
- Key Responsibilities:
- Provision of relevant and reliable data to the CommSec LT
- Active involvement with senior stakeholders to make effective commercial decisions in order to maximize revenue and reduce costs
- Accurate management reporting in accordance with Group Finance timetables on a timely basis
- Legal Entity Controller for the CommSec group of companies and Financial Controller (FC) for the CommSec business
- Management of the CommSec entity’s liquidity and capital requirements as determined by the ASX, and
- Trusted finance advisor supporting new products, pricing decisions and delivery of strategy
Executive Manager - Group Treasury Finance
Commonwealth Bank of Australia
10.2014 - 01.2019
- Management of the Group Treasury Finance’s team responsible for the domestic product control, global management reporting and finance change function; a team of14
- Key achievements:
- Acting GM responsible for FY18’s year-end reporting including the CEO briefing and DQ process
- FS award - Offshore Treasury migration from IB&M Markets to Group Treasury (Project Ascent)
- Establishment of a monthly balance sheet and reconciliation control forum
- Transformed the month-end process delivering results to the Group Treasurer by working day10, (previously done as late as working day20)
- Active advocate of the flex working and was the first team leader in Group Treasury Finance to have team members participate in the pilot, and
- Consistently achieved engagement scores above that of the CBA Group
- Clear demonstration of proactively hiring and successfully developing a diverse team
Product Owner & Scrum Master - Treasury Business Management
Commonwealth Bank of Australia
07.2013 - 09.2014
- Product owner supporting Group Treasury Front Office and Treasury Finance during the Murex binary upgrade and Matrix to Murex migration (Project Hornet1A and1B)
- Key achievement:
- CEO Team award – Project Hornet’s successful delivery (Part1A)
Finance and Product Control SME (Contract)
Westpac Banking Corporation
07.2012 - 06.2013
- Business Analyst and solution designer for the successful delivery of an intergroup reconciliation remediation project
- Prepared business requirement documentation, tested solution design and presented the results to the senior stakeholders.
Associate Director - Head of Finance EMEA - FICC Division
Macquarie Bank
12.2008 - 02.2012
- Headed up the Financial Control, Financial reporting and Product Control functions supporting the trading results and expense management of the FICC (Fixed Income, Currency and Commodities); team of13 (10 local and3 in India)
- Extensive exposure to trading and hedging strategies using derivatives and securities across multiple trading desks including commodities, agriculture, energy, metals and carbon emissions, FX and Money markets
- Additional finance support provided to ship freight leasing, physical commodity trading, corporate loan and deposit book and strategic equity investments
- Key achievements:
- Owned the successful EMEA FICC Finance structural change program designed to manage costs and improve operational efficiency
- These activities included team restructuring, offshoring and process rationalisation
- Accountable for preparation of the change budget, resource requirements, delivery timeline and ensured that the program was delivered on time and on budget
- Performed due diligence work for asset and entity acquisitions and provided input into a successful IPO (Energy Asset Group)
- Actively involved in documentation of cash flow and fair value hedging strategies in conjunction with the Group Technical accounting team for the then emerging carbon emissions trading industry
Associate Director – Corporate Affairs Group (Sydney)
Macquarie Bank
12.2008 - 05.2010
- The primary Finance contact and manager of the Finance and Product control teams supporting the global Agricultural and Investor Products desk.
Head of Product Control
ANZ - Institutional Markets Division
09.2005 - 12.2008
- Managed the global team that reported the daily profit and loss and performed the monthly GL close and reporting processes to ensure the timely and accurate reporting of the Division’s Trading result; a team of19 (12 local and7 remote)
- Key achievements:
- Establishment of offshore Finance and Product Control functions supporting ANZ’s Asian expansion program across five jurisdictions
- Supported the Treasury function during the2008 GFC most notably providing reliable position gap reporting in the aftermath of the collapse of Bear Sterns and Lehman Brothers
Senior Finance Officer
ANZ - Institutional Markets Division
09.2005 - 02.2006
- Key achievements:
- Developed and documented the Finance processes and controls for Australian and offshore staff to support ANZ’s Asian expansion program
- Roll-out delivered on time and on budget
- Prepared training packs and conducted in-person training at locations for Finance and Settlements staff
Senior Finance Officer
Fortis Bank SA/NV, London Branch
04.2002 - 08.2005
- Performed the daily and monthly profit & loss and Balance sheet & reporting for Fortis’ UK Branch Treasury, Equities Arbitrage trading desk and corporate loan business
- Key achievements:
- Member of the project that successfully migrated hedging derivatives from manual valuation spreadsheets to the Group’s Product system
Assistant Financial Controller (Contractor)
Credit Suisse, London Branch
04.1999 - 09.2001
- Financial controller for the monthly profit & loss and Balance sheet reporting for Credit Suisse’s London branch
- Key achievements:
- Member of the Group’s US GAAP project team
- Assisted in reporting and restating the Firm’s1999 financial statements to conform to US GAAP reporting
- Member of new general ledger (PeopleSoft) migration and implementation team
Assistant Audit Manager, Audit Senior, Accountant, Trainee accountant
KPMG, Durban, South Africa
03.1996 - 03.1999
- Supervised and the audit and the audit team on client premises
- Clients included Banking, FMCG, Services and non-profits.
Education
Post Graduate diploma - Accounting
University of Kwa-Zulu Natal
Bachelor of Commerce - Accounting, Management Accounting, Tax and Audit
University of Kwa-Zulu Natal
Skills
- Over20 years of financial accounting industry experience in domestic and offshore operations
- Strong financial and non-financial risk control mindset with an Audit and Assurance background
- Product Control supporting Markets and Treasury
- Agile Project Management (Product Owner and Scrum Master)
- Organisational and process change management
- Excellent stakeholder engagement and communication
- Proven track record of efficient resource management and task prioritisation
- Delivery of strategic initiatives with strong attention to detail
- Team development, mentoring and coaching
- Stakeholder management
- Budget planning
- Workforce planning
- International business
- Cross-functional team leadership
- Accounting principle implementation
- Employee engagement
- Staff development
- Teamwork and collaboration
- Relationship building
- Decision-making
Certification
- Chartered Accountant Australia and New Zealand
- Chartered Accountant South Africa
Hobbies and Interests
Long distance bike riding, Travel, Baking
Affiliations
- CA NZ
Timeline
Executive Manager - Group Treasury Finance
Commonwealth Bank of Australia
10.2014 - 01.2019
Executive Manager – CommSec FR&A, Executive Advisor – BB CFO
Commonwealth Bank of Australia
07.2013 - Current
Product Owner & Scrum Master - Treasury Business Management
Commonwealth Bank of Australia
07.2013 - 09.2014
Finance and Product Control SME (Contract)
Westpac Banking Corporation
07.2012 - 06.2013
Associate Director - Head of Finance EMEA - FICC Division
Macquarie Bank
12.2008 - 02.2012
Associate Director – Corporate Affairs Group (Sydney)
Macquarie Bank
12.2008 - 05.2010
Head of Product Control
ANZ - Institutional Markets Division
09.2005 - 12.2008
Senior Finance Officer
ANZ - Institutional Markets Division
09.2005 - 02.2006
Senior Finance Officer
Fortis Bank SA/NV, London Branch
04.2002 - 08.2005
Assistant Financial Controller (Contractor)
Credit Suisse, London Branch
04.1999 - 09.2001
Assistant Audit Manager, Audit Senior, Accountant, Trainee accountant
KPMG, Durban, South Africa
03.1996 - 03.1999
Bachelor of Commerce - Accounting, Management Accounting, Tax and Audit
University of Kwa-Zulu Natal
Post Graduate diploma - Accounting
University of Kwa-Zulu Natal
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