NAB CEO Andrew Irvine insists he has done ‘nothing wrong’ as board hands him $1.7m bonus

‘As you’ve seen from the board, they’re happy with my performance,’ declared NAB chief Andrew Irvine as he pocketed a hefty bonus and dismissed concerns about drinking with clients.

NAB CEO Andrew Irvine was awarded a bonus of $1.7m, or 69 per cent of his fixed salary. Picture: John Feder/The Australian

Backed by his board and a hefty bonus, National Australia Bank boss Andrew Irvine has declared he did “nothing wrong” in relation to concerns raised about his drinking with clients.

Mr Irvine was the subject of intense public scrutiny after anonymous concerns were aired by investors over his drinking with clients and management style in July this year.

On Thursday, as NAB posted a flat $7.1bn cash profit in its full-year earnings, Mr Irvine was awarded two-thirds of his bonus and told The Australian any issues about his behaviour were a “matter for the board”.

“I’m focused on the bank’s results today. I don’t believe I did anything wrong,” he said.

The NAB board agreed with him, giving him a clean report card and awarding him a bonus of $1.7m, or 69 per cent of his fixed salary of $2.5m. This consisted of a $1m cash bonus and $690,000 in deferred shares.

Mr Irvine, who has been in the job for 18 months, has a further $3.9m vested in short and long-term incentives, bringing his total remuneration package to $7.6m for the year.

The only minor penalty he faced was related to his former role as head of NAB’s business bank in relation to a long-running underpayment scandal. As a result, Mr Irvine and two other executives had a combined $112,430 cut from their pay packets.

NAB chief executive Andrew Irvine has demonstrated a ‘learning orientation’. Picture: John Feder/The Australian

But the board gave Mr Irvine an otherwise solid scorecard on his individual performance, risk management and conduct.

The media speculation was not directly addressed in the annual report.

Mr Irvine, who previously spoke of the toll the reports had on his family, was in little mood to discuss it further.

“If I spend time with customers, it’s so I can get to know them and help them in terms of running their business and building relationship with them,” he said.

“Under no circumstances do I do anything that would undermine the bank or my position running the bank. I’m very focused on our customers, and as you’ve seen from the board, they’re happy with my performance.”

Under a section in the annual report entitled “consequence outcomes and remuneration adjustments”, the bank revealed that one “senior manager” had received coaching, warning or other remedial actions in 2025.

While it is not clear if this relates to Mr Irvine, an accompanying footnote said that “the group CEO and group executives are categorised as senior managers”.

Another hint at the furore that dominated the business gossip pages earlier this year was a single jargon-heavy line assessing Mr Irvine’s “individual conduct and demonstration of NAB’s behaviours”.

“The group CEO has demonstrated a learning orientation and adaptive leadership mindset through the guidance of the board and in line with our expected Who We Are behaviours,” it noted.

Fund manager Crispin Murray, the head of equities at investment house Pendal, reportedly raised Mr Irvine’s management style at a lunch with NAB’s chairman.

NAB’s board met to discuss Mr Irvine’s behaviour, but the NAB boss did not attend the meeting having previously told The Australian it was held at 3am Canada-time, where the banker was holidaying.

Originally published as NAB CEO Andrew Irvine insists he has done ‘nothing wrong’ as board hands him $1.7m bonus