NAB fined $57.5m in 'fees for no service' case

National Australia Bank will cop a $57.5 million fine and has admitted to misleading and deceptive conduct and other breaches of the law, after it was forced to repay $117 million in fees to superannuation fund members for services that were never provided.

In a Federal Court case launched in 2018, the corporate watchdog alleged NAB had charged hundreds of thousands of super members fees between 2012 and 2018 for financial planning services that were not provided.

NAB admitted customers had been charged for a service that was not provided.Credit: Will Willitts

Late on Friday, NAB said the Federal Court had imposed a $57.5 million penalty, after the bank admitted to conduct that was misleading or deceptive, and false or misleading. It also admitted to breaches of the Corporations Act and the Australian Securities and Investments (ASIC) Act.

The action against NAB, which was launched shortly after a gruelling appearance by the bank at the royal commission into financial misconduct, was against two NAB-owned trustees, NULIS Nominees and MLC Nominees (MLCN).

ASIC's case centred on a "plan service fee" paid by MLC MasterKey Business and Personal Super fund members. The fee was imposed to cover the cost of an adviser, linked to the member's employer. Those employees could turn off the fee when they changed jobs, but MLC did not tell members they could do so, ASIC said in the case.

NAB group executive for legal and commercial services, Sharon Cooke, said in a statement on Friday: "Customers should never have been charged for a service that was not received, and NULIS and MLCN should have made it clearer that customers could switch off the plan service fee."

ASIC's case against NAB was the first in an industry-wide scandal known as "fees for no service", which has led to massive compensation bills across the banking and financial services sector.

Ms Cooke said NAB's clients had been fully compensated, with a total of $117 million paid to members by May last year.

An ASIC spokesman said the regulator was still reading the judgment and declined to comment.

The case comes after NAB last week sold its wealth business, MLC Wealth, to IOOF, the latest in a wave of wealth management asset sales following a run of scandals in the industry.

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