Banking royal commission: NAB execs to take first turn under Hayne’s super griller

Executives from NAB are to be the first under the griller as the bank inquiry turns its gaze on super from Monday morning.

NAB’s chief customer officer, consumer banking and wealth Andrew Hagger, who appeared in an earlier round of banking royal commission hearings, alongside former executive general manager of wealth products Paul Carter who is set to appear next week. Picture Adam Yip/The Australian

Executives from ‘Big Four’ bank NAB are to be the first under the financial services royal commission griller on Monday morning as the inquiry swings its focus to Australia’s $2.6 trillion superannuation system.

NAB’s former executive general manager of wealth products, Paul Carter, and Nicole Smith, who resigned as chairman of the group’s super trustee company NULIS in June, have been named as witnesses in a list released by the commission this afternoon ahead of the next fortnight’s hearings.

In February last year, the corporate watchdog slapped new conditions on the financial services license held by NULIS after what the Australian Securities and Investments Commission called “breakdowns in internal procedures” hit hundreds of thousands of customers.

As a result of NULIS’s failures, it charged 220,000 customers fees totalling $34.7m for services they never received, and incorrectly refused $1.6m worth of death and total disability insurance claims.

NAB, which runs its wealth management business under the MLC brand, agreed to pay compensation.

Other retail funds set to appear during the coming fortnight are AMP, which has already seen its share price smashed to smithereens by the commission’s revelations of misconduct, Commonwealth Bank’s Colonial First State and ANZ’s OnePath businesses.

Not-for-profit funds starting with the nation’s biggest, AustralianSuper, are also set to appear. Hostplus, Sunsuper, Cbus’s United Super, Catholic Super, the Electricity Supply Industry Superannuation fund — better known as Energy Super — and QSuper will also be grilled.