NAB calls for report clarity

NATIONAL Australia Bank says it has finished or is in the process of acting on 26 of the 76 recommendations from the banking royal commission.

But the bank is calling for clarity from the federal government and regulators on other issues raised by commissioner Kenneth Hayne, “with a view to taking positive action as soon as possible”.

“We have to focus on earning back trust and this includes the actions we take in response to the final report and other issues we have faced at NAB,” said interim chief executive Philip Chronican.

“It includes how we compensate customers when we get it wrong, how we pay our people, how we hold ourselves accountable for running the bank, and how we build a culture that puts customers first every time.”

His comments come after NAB came under fire during the hearings for the royal commission.

The inquiry heard of cases where the bank charged fees to dead people and charged customers for services it never provided, while a home loan referral program was fraught with problems. Agreeing with 72 of Mr Hayne’s 76 recommendations, NAB said yesterday said it was introducing governance frameworks to better identify and address poor behaviour among mortgage brokers, as well as poor customer outcomes.

This follows the federal government’s backflip on plans to ban trailing commissions for mortgage brokers.

NAB’s approach to dealing with misconduct among advisers was already in line with the proposed recommendations.

“The commission has also rightly challenged NAB to close the gap between where we are today and where we need to be.”

Mr Chronican moved to reassure shareholders this week over the bank’s direction. He was appointed acting chief executive following the resignations last month of former chief executive Andrew Thorburn and chair Ken Henry