After just two years at the helm, Harry Kellan is stepping down as CEO of FNB, with Lytania Johnson appointed as his successor as part of a sweeping restructuring across FirstRand’s banking operations.
Kellan, who took over as FNB CEO in April 2024 after serving a decade as FirstRand group CFO, will retire early at the end of 2026—bringing a 22-year career with the group to a close.
Johnson brings 25 years of experience at FNB to her new role, having led the personal banking segment for the past three years. She will now serve as FNB CEO while also heading a newly created retail and business banking (RBB) segment. All changes take effect on 1 April and have received regulatory approval, following FirstRand’s announcement today that it has restructured portions of its banking operating model, prompting shifts across several senior roles.
The majority of the changes relate to FNB, which has for many years operated with a customer segment model encompassing a retail and commercial segment, underneath which were sub segments. Designed to meet customer needs and provide focused and appropriate product sets and solutions, this model underpinned FNB’s ability to scale its client franchises and become South Africa’s most profitable retail and commercial bank.
The group now believes the absolute size and scale of the subsegments means the model requires simplification. As a result, the following segment model changes will be implemented.
The overarching retail and commercial construct will be replaced by a retail and business banking (RBB) segment servicing entry level to middle income individuals and SME’s. Lytania Johnson, currently the CEO of the personal subsegment will step up into the role of CEO of RBB and at the same time become the CEO of FNB. Lytania has been with FNB for 25 years, serving as the CEO of the personal segment for the past three years.
A new standalone segment will sit alongside RBB, representing private banking and wealth management. Sizwe Nxedlana remains the CEO, a role he has held since 2023. The enterprise and public sector subsegments of commercial will move into the recently established commercial and corporate bank (CCB) run by Muneer Ismail.
Harry Kellan, current CEO of the retail and commercial segment and FNB, will step down and take early retirement at the end of 2026. Harry has been with the group for 22 years, including 10 years as group CFO. He took over the role of FNB CEO in April 2024 and quickly embarked on a strategy to reduce structural complexity, improve agility and decision-making and unlock efficiencies. The structural changes announced today result from these efforts.
“In the two years I have been CEO of FNB my focus has been on simplification, product, platform and structure,” said Harry.
“The reconfiguration of the retail and commercial segment model is the next step required for the business to be even more agile and responsive to customer needs. I have every confidence in the new leadership team. They have been my colleagues for many years and have the expertise to make sure FNB maintains its market-leading position.”
Lytania Johnson, incoming FNB CEO said the prospects for FNB remain compelling. “FNB has so many leading customer propositions built on the back of a strong culture of innovation and the promise of Help. This simplified structure will accelerate the bank’s ability to serve its customers better and offer these propositions in a focused and efficient manner to both existing and new to bank customers. By bringing together retail and business banking, we can better serve entrepreneurs, small businesses and households who require solutions that can cover their personal and business needs —helping more customers participate effectively in the economy.”
In addition to the changes at FNB, the group has appointed a group Chief Operating Officer to specifically focus on increasing collaboration, operational effectiveness and disciplined coordination across the group. Gert Kruger, who has been the group chief risk officer (CRO) since 2017, has been appointed to this role, given his deep understanding of the operational structures of the group. Emma Mer, previously the CRO of the retail and commercial segment and FNB, will replace Gert Kruger as group CRO.
Mary Vilakazi FirstRand CEO said that the group is confident the new structure will significantly reduce complexity, elevate segment CEO accountability and ensure ongoing execution of growth strategies.
“FNB is in a good place as demonstrated by its recent results, with the South African business delivering 10% growth in pretax profits with the overall FNB franchise increasing its ROE to 41%. Harry has done an excellent job to get the business to a point where it can embark on these changes with clear strategic objectives. The group’s succession and talent management approach has allowed it to undertake this restructuring with minimum disruption to senior talent and has created growth, tenure and increased accountability for a new generation of leadership.”
All changes are effective 1 April 2026 and have received the necessary regulatory approval.
