NAB signs peace deal with former trader Dikele Diawara after ‘boys club’ allegations

Allegations that NAB’s markets business had a ‘boys club’ culture or that a former trader was threatened with a baseball bat will not be tested in court after the bank settled a long-running case.

Allegations that NAB’s markets business had a ‘boys club’ culture or that a former trader was threatened with a baseball bat will not be tested in court after the bank settled a long-running case. Picture: Getty Images

National Australia Bank will require a former female banker to never speak publicly about a secret settlement after suing the bank alleging bullying, harassment and discrimination, after the two sides agreed to discontinue a marathon court fight.

Papers filed with the Federal Court reveal former NAB head of repo trading Dikele Diawara, who alleged she was subjected to a “boys club culture” at the bank’s market business, discontinued her case against the bank on Monday more than two years after first filing her human rights complaint.

The allegations by Ms Diawara, and revelations in The Australian that senior members of the markets team had instructed juniors to report a positive experience in NAB surveys rather than provide truthful responses, triggered a cultural review and the intervention of the bank’s then boss, Ross McEwan.

The terms of the settlement between Ms Diawara and NAB are confidential but the former repo trader, who earned $200,000 a year, had been seeking that the bank pay up for her treatment, alleging she’d been underpaid for years compared with colleagues, as well as suffered racial and sexual discrimination and been threatened with a baseball bat by her boss.

NAB corporate and institutional banking group executive Cath Carver said the matter was at an end.

“NAB confirms both parties have agreed to settle the proceedings,” she said. “The terms of the settlement are confidential.”

Documents show the notice to discontinue Ms Diawara’s case was lodged last Friday before Justice Melissa Perry, who approved the motion to discontinue the fight in a Monday evening hearing.

NAB’s former head of repo trading Dikele Diawara.

The move came after months of back-and-forth between the two sides after earlier attempts to mediate a settlement in September 2022 and again in May 2023 were unsuccessful.

NAB lodged a series of affidavits in Ms Diawara’s case over September and October, after several extensions to orders for the bank to lodge its evidence by or before July 2024.

Both sides had been preparing to return to court, with the matter expected to be listed for a case management hearing after February 21.

A trial was expected to kick off by September 2025, more than three years after Ms Diawara filed her action against NAB in April 2022. The move averts any damaging allegations being aired in court.

However, Ms Diawara’s case against NAB was frustrated by the bank’s move to block the release of its markets business culture review.

NAB commissioned two reviews of the markets business – one from a legal group investigating matters connected to Ms Diawara’s case and another from leadership consulting firm Serendis.

NAB said the report cleared the markets business, noting it was “friendly, inclusive, fair, caring and supportive”. However, sources with knowledge of the report have noted it made several comments about the leadership of the markets business.

This included noting that most of the leadership was male and cautioning concern over the leadership style of senior figures in the markets business.

The report also canvassed concerns over the level of drinking in NAB’s markets business, both in and outside work hours.

ANZ’s markets team also has been in the sights of the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority over non-financial risks, with concerns around drinking in the bank’s trading team.

Others in NAB’s markets team have previously tried to raise concerns over conduct and the treatment of women.

On the day following Ms Diawara’s case being lodged a member of NAB’s markets team sent senior management in the business a long letter detailing concerns over the bank’s boys club culture.

NAB has made several changes to the markets business in the wake of Ms Diawara’s court filing, with long-term head Drew Bradford leaving in March 2023 and joining a crypto start-up.

Belgian banker Krista Baetens now runs NAB’s markets business.

The bank also has set up an engagement group for junior staff in the markets business.

Originally published as NAB signs peace deal with former trader Dikele Diawara after ‘boys club’ allegations