Anna Bligh will take up her post as chief executive of the Australian Bankers Association next Monday, 3 April. She succeeds the far-from-retiring Steven Münchenberg who has been at the helm of the banking lobby group for the past seven years. ING Direct has followed the lead of the major banks by increasing its standard variable interest rates on residential property loans for investor borrowers by 0.25 per cent. The increase is effective from Tuesday 4 April. In a media release, the banks said the standard variable rates for investors with Orange Advantage home loans and ING Direct Mortgage Simplifier home loans will be 5.42 per cent and 5.32 per cent, respectively. The executive responsible for managing $34 billion of investments in Westpac's wealth management business, Martyn Wild, has left the company following a series of allegations about inappropriate behaviour towards two female staff, Fairfax media reports. Wild's position will be filled on an interim basis by the current head of asset allocation, Corrin Collocott.