NAB names new CFO amid shake-up plans

NAB has unveiled its new chief financial officer amid plans for a shake-up of the bank’s finance and strategy arms.

NAB has unveiled its new CFO amid plans for a shake-up of the bank’s structure. Adelaide. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Morgan Sette

National Australia Bank has flagged a shake-up of its Finance and Strategy and Innovation arms as part of a leadership handover at the top of the bank.

The bank announced on Tuesday its long-serving chief financial officer Gary Lennon would retire, with NAB strategy and innovation group executive Nathan Goonan to replace him in an expanded role.

This may see Mr Goonan carry over some of his responsibilities from his current job running NAB’s strategy teams to the CFO job.

Mr Lennon, a 15-year-NAB veteran, will leave the CFO role on July 1, but will stay on until October 1 to manage the transition.

NAB chief executive Ross McEwan said Mr Lennon’s three-month handover would allow him to support Mr Goonan transition into the role as well as “work with me on a number of initiatives.

“I am delighted he will stay on to do that,” he said.

“Gary is a quality person who will be deeply missed by his colleagues.”

But Mr McEwan flagged plans to shake up NAB’s Finance and Strategy and Innovation teams “over coming months” in a bid to determine “the best future model” as part of the transition.

Mr Lennon leaves the role after decades in finance, including an 11-year-stint at Deutsche Bank.

Mr Goonan takes on the CFO role after three years on NAB’s executive team running the bank’s strategy.

He rejoined NAB in 2013 as the boss of the bank’s corporate affairs team, before taking on the job of group strategy and development running corporate strategy and mergers and acquisitions activity under the bank’s former CEO Andrew Thorburn.

He was key to NAB’s exit of its troubled UK lending business Clydesdale bank, which were divested in February 2016.

This saw NAB float 25 per cent of Clydesdale bank, while handing shareholders 75 per cent of the UK lender.

Mr Goonan was also involved in the $1.5bn sell-off of its American lender Great Western Bank in 2015 which saw the bank take a $400m haircut on the book value of the lender.

NAB purchased Great Western Bank in 2008 for $798m amid the market turmoil triggered by the Global Financial Crisis.

However, NAB has also grown its Australian presence, purchasing Citigroup’s Australian consumer business for $1.2bn in June last year.

Mr McEwan said Mr Goonan had “driven a much sharper focus on accountability, performance and execution” at NAB during this time.

“Our customers, colleagues and shareholders have experienced the benefits of this,” he said.

However, the new CFO takes on the role as NAB faces the need to repay the huge sums borrowed from the Reserve Bank of Australia during the pandemic as well as pursuing a $400m productivity target.

NAB reported in February it raised $21bn from wholesale funding markets, but must raise a further $20bn over the rest of the financial year.

Originally published as NAB names new CFO amid shake-up plans