BUSINESS NAB boss offers apology

THE head of National Australia Bank has publicly lamented a “difficult and shameful” year dominated by “appalling behaviour” uncovered at the banking royal commission.

Andrew Thorburn ( pictured) regrets the fact customers have lost trust in the NAB because of the misconduct of its bankers.

“That’s the most terrible thing,” he told a parliamentary committee in Canberra yesterday. “It’s been a difficult and shameful year.”

Mr Thorburn’s evidence was mostly contrite through- out the hearing.

But during a fiery exchange, the NAB chief executive chastised a Liberal committee member who wanted to question his previous role at St George. Liberal MP Jason Falinski wanted to know if Mr Thorburn had any role in the 2008 merger of Westpac and St George.

Mr Thorburn said he was in Canberra to talk about NAB.

He said if Mr Falinski was hours- long public inferring he did something inappropriate during his time at St George, “I reject that totally. I think it’s unfair, and you should be very clear about what you are saying about us,” Mr Thorburn said.

He demanded Mr Falinski withdraw.

“You withdraw any question about our reputation?”

Mr Falinski said he would “absolutely” withdraw and apologised if there was any inference of misconduct taken.

Mr Thorburn is the final chief executive from the big four banks to be questioned by the committee this month.

He said the misbehaviour of a few bankers had a devastating impact on NAB’s reputation.

He conceded NAB did not have sufficient controls to fix issues when they arose, and had not compensated its customers fast enough.

“We didn’t intend to what happened,” he said.

He acknowledged the NAB needed to rebuild trust.

“The royal commission has exposed issues in our bank and the industry that have been do confronting and upsetting,” Mr Thorburn told the committee.

“I feel this deeply, having worked in our profession for more than three decades. In so many cases, we have not had the care and respect for our customers that we should have. And for that, I am sorry.”

Mr Thorburn acknowledged banks had drifted away from customers as they pursued profits over people, and there was too much of a shortterm focus. Hundreds of bankers at the NAB have been sacked as a result of investigations into misconduct.