NAB appoints new boss

Branch closures loom as McEwan eyes restructure

NAB has given former Commonwealth Bank retail boss Ross McEwan the job of rebuilding the bank’s battered reputation as new chief executive and managing director.

Mr McEwan, who led CBA’s retail operations between 2007 and 2012, handed in his notice as Royal Bank of Scotland CEO three months ago and will join NAB once he has completed the handover to his yet-to-be-announced successor at the UK bank.

The smallest of Australia’s big four banks had been looking for a new CEO since February, when Andrew Thorburn quit after being criticised in the financial services royal commission final report.

Mr McEwan will look to repair the reputational damage that occurred under Mr Thorburn’s watch while pressing on with his predecessor’s multibillion-dollar restructure.

Although interim chief executive Phil Chronican has halted branch closures, Mr McEwan indicated he could even accelerate a transformation that includes bank’s exit from wealth.

“We need to continue on with the plan,” Mr McEwan said yesterday. “We’ll look with the executive team at whether that is fast enough or we need to go further.”

NAB said that Mr McEwan, who will be based at its Melbourne headquarters, would start work no later than April.

Mr McEwan (pictured), who led a similar reputational rebuild over his six years as the CEO of RBS, would not be drawn on what his appointment meant for NAB retail boss Mike Baird.

Mr Baird, who in 2017 agreed to join NAB in an executive role just six weeks after resigning as NSW premier, was initially rumoured to be among the candidates for the role before the bank opted for an external appointment.

“People make their own decisions about whether they want to be with an organisation,” Mr McEwan said. “It’s just far too early for me to be making any comment on that.”

Mr McEwan’s own departure from CBA came in 2012, shortly after the lender promoted his fellow New Zealander, Ian Narev, to CEO.

Mr McEwan headed RBS’s retail operations for a year before taking the top job, immediately waiving his annual bonus for the first two financial years as the lender prepared to announce a fifth straight loss.