Financial Services Institute of Australasia (Finsia) CEO Brian Salter will leave the organisation once the sale of its education arm to US publisher Kaplan is completed.

An interim CEO, former Institute of Chartered Accountants CEO Stephen Harrison, will work alongside Mr Salter until the deal is finalised, possibly within a few weeks.

The board will then look to appoint a permanent CEO by the end of the year to create a “new” Finsia which will have greater focus on its member services and advocacy roles.

Finsia members voted last month to approve the sale of its education business to Kaplan, which is owned by the Washington Post.

While the majority ruled, the vote was anything but unanimous. Mr Salter and around 40% of voting members were against the move. They felt the $45 million price tag was too low and called on the board to retain what they felt was Finsia’s best asset.

Mr Salter has been CEO of Finsia since it was formed from the merger of the Securities Institute of Australia and the Australasian Institute of Banking and Finance two years ago.

A dedicated industry educator, he joined the organisation when some 80% of the business was based around education.

Mr Harrison was CEO of the Institute of Chartered Accountants between 1991 and 2005.