Former CBA boss Ian Narev “exceptionally demonstrated” our values, board says

FORMER CBA boss Ian Narev “exceptionally demonstrated” the bank’s values in his final year on the job, according to a surprising internal report card, despite the string of scandals that engulfed the group.

FORMER Commonwealth Bank chief Ian Narev was ­assessed by the bank’s board as having “exceptionally demonstrated” the company’s values in his final year at the scandal-plagued lender.

Mr Narev, who oversaw a string of scandals at the ­nation’s biggest lender before standing down, was stripped of his ability to earn up to $16 million in short and long-term bonus payments by the CBA this week.

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But the pay slap-down did not stop the CBA board, headed by Catherine Livingstone, from bestowing on Mr Narev the highest grade possible under the bank’s “values” pay metric.

Values form part of the CBA’s executive remuneration framework and cover qualities such as integrity, excellence, accountability and customer service.

Macca’s perspective.

The ranking is contained in the CBA’s annual report, released on Wednesday as the banking major posted its first slide in profit since the global financial crisis as a slew of scandals hit its bottom line.

Mr Narev left the CBA in April after presiding over an organisation that breached the nation’s anti-money ­laundering laws, ripped off ­customers with dodgy financial advice and charged clients fees for services never ­provided.

The banking regulator slammed the CBA’s board, senior management and culture in a scathing report released in May that found the bank turned a “tin ear” to complaints and was “desensitised to failings with customers”.

The CBA’s annual report cites that Australian Prudential Regulation Authority report as a reason for stripping Mr Narev and a host of other senior executives of tens of millions of dollars in short and long-term bonus payments.

CBA chair Catherine Livingstone and then chief executive Ian Narev appear at a parliamentary inquiry into the banking sector last October at Parliament House in Canberra. Picture: Kym Smith

But APRA’s grim assessment of the corporate culture at the CBA did not stop its board from awarding Mr Narev the highest values ­rating, even as it stripped him of any bonus payments he could have earned under the metric.

Mr Narev was also assessed as having “partially met” the risk and reputation pay metric.

New CBA chief Matt Comyn — who led the group’s cornerstone retail banking ­operations before he was promoted to the top role — was awarded the same ratings for each metric.

Ms Livingstone defended Mr Narev’s grading, saying it reflected how he had owned up to and addressed scandals at the bank that paved the way for the ongoing royal commission into the financial sector.

“The board’s assessment of the former CEO’s values, among other considerations, reflected Ian’s leadership of the bank’s vision and values, and his personal demonstration of behaviours,” she said in a statement to Business Daily.

Mr Narev and Ms Livingstone with Matt Comyn in January this year, when Mr Comyn was named incoming chief executive. Picture: Britta Campion.

Ms Livingstone said the assessment reflected “in particular the high degree of integrity he displayed during the last ­financial year, accepting full responsibility for all the matters and working openly and transparently with the board and others to address them”.

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