Takeovers, departures alter list.(Brief Article)

There have been several key changes in the top management tier of Australia's financial services sector in the past year.

The most notable, of course, is the departure of Colonial chief executive Peter Smedley following the Commonwealth Bank's $9 billion takeover.

The takeover also takes Smedley's former head of financial services at Colonial, Stuart James, off this year's Top 50 list.

Three other CEO changes to affect this year's list are the departures of John Dawson at Bank of Queensland and Bill Ferguson at Citibank and the replacement of Rod