News: UPDATE 1-Commonwealth Bank CEO to retire by mid 2018

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Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) said on Monday its chief executive Ian Narev will retire by June 2018, in the wake of a scandal over money laundering and terror financing allegations.

Narev has been head of Australia's largest bank by market capitalisation since December 2011. The exact date of his departure will depend on the outcome of a candidate search, the bank said.

CBA has recently been engulfed in civil charges stemming from alleged breaches of money-laundering and counter-terrorism financing rules that have wiped billions of dollars from its market capitalisaiton.

Last week, the bank scrapped short-term bonuses for executives for damaging the bank's reputation. Narev will be paid A$5.71 million for the year ending June 2017, down 35 percent from last year's A$8.77 million.

CBA chairman Catherine Livingstone said on Monday that there had been ongoing conversations about succession planning since she became chair early this year.

"This is part of an orderly process," Livingstone told journalists on a media call.