Fitch Ratings has appointed John Miles as head of Fitch Australia effective immediately. Based in Sydney, he will be responsible for managing the rating agency's day-to-day business operations in Australia and New Zealand.
The new appointee takes over from Ben McCarthy, who was both the acting head of Australia and head of structured finance for the Asia-Pacific region.
With this role separation, McCarthy will now be fully devoted to the agency's structured finance team. This area is experiencing robust growth, with a strong input from covered bond issuance from Australia and New Zealand, according to a release from Fitch.
Miles has 28 years of experience in the Australian capital markets, 15 years of which have been spent at the rating agency. He joined Fitch as a bank analyst in 1997 and has led its financial institutions team in Australia and New Zealand since 2005. Miles oversaw and contributed to expanding the coverage into other areas including insurance and international public finance during his tenure.
"Australia and New Zealand are among the fastest growing credit markets in the Asia-Pacific region and we are confident of building on our success there under John's leadership," said Brett Hemsley, head of Asia-Pacific at Fitch.
"Fitch is widely respected as a leader and an innovator in credit ratings and research in Australia and New Zealand. I look forward to the challenge of growing Fitch's brand and enhancing its contribution to the financial services industry," Miles said.
