NAB chief Andrew Thorburn: no ‘criminal acts’

NAB chief executive Andrew Thorburn has strongly ­rejected allegations the bank might have engaged in criminal behaviour.

NAB chief executive Andrew Thorburn. Picture: Aaron Francis

National Australia Bank chief executive Andrew Thorburn has gone on the offensive, strongly ­rejecting allegations aired in the royal commission that the bank might have engaged in criminal behaviour.

In video messages to staff and customers, as well as media interviews late yesterday, Mr Thorburn conceded the bank had “let (you) down” by charging fees for services it had failed to deliver.

However, in an interview with The Australian, the NAB chief said he wanted to make it “very clear” the bank’s people had not been ­involved in criminal acts.

“I stressed that to our people today,” Mr Thorburn said.

“(What’s happened) sounds ­really serious, but it’s not about fraud. It concerns potential breaches of the Corporations Act.”

NAB’s two witnesses in the fifth round of hearings on super­annuation — ex-chair of the MLC trustee company Nulis, Nicole Smith, and former executive general manager of wealth products Paul Carter — have endured gruelling cross-examinations that finally wound up yesterday.

Commissioner Ken Hayne put Ms Smith on notice about NAB’s precarious legal position on Wednesday, asking her if she had considered whether collecting fees without providing the agreed service could expose the bank to civil or criminal proceedings.

Ms Smith responded: “I didn’t.”

The superannuation hearings conclude at the end of next week.

Mr Thorburn was sufficiently concerned about the barrage of negative publicity yesterday to conduct interviews and present NAB’s position by video to staff and customers, using the social media platforms Twitter and LinkedIn. He is likely to broach the issue today, as well, when he conducts a “town hall” meeting with staff, which will be live-streamed to ­mobile phones.

NAB’s position is that the ­controversy relates to an ASIC­ ­letter dated October 27 last year. In it, The Australian Securities & Investments Commission is critical of NAB’s repeated failure to promptly inform the watchdog of its regulatory breaches. ASIC also raises an allegation of misleading and deceptive conduct.

Mr Thorburn yesterday empha­sised that these matters were unresolved, and they did not concern alleged fraud.

In the Twitter video, he said NAB was focused on serving customers “with honour, to be good stewards, and to partner with you and back you to go forward in your business and in your life”.

“This week, once again, we have been confronted in the royal commission with letting you down, where we have not met that standard. I’m sorry for that.”

NAB’s mistake, he said, was to fall short of its usual practice of finding mistakes, fixing them, and in the right circumstances paying compensation. He promised “to listen, to learn and to get better, so that we can truly be a bank that you can rely on, that you can respect, and that you can trust”.

He closed the video by revealing his email address and urging customers to contact him directly with any feedback.