NAB to restrict workplace drinking amid ANZ culture scandal

Access to alcohol, previously a mainstay of midweek work functions, is now being restricted across NAB, with teams put on notice over the ban.

Access to alcohol, previously a mainstay of midweek work functions, is now being restricted across NAB, with teams being put on notice over the booze ban.

National Australia Bank is set to ban booze across most of the business as it rolls out new rules ahead of the silly season.

Access to alcohol, previously a mainstay of midweek work functions, is now being restricted across NAB, with teams put on notice over the ban.

The move is also expected to see the end of NAB’s end-of-week afternoon knees-up drinking sessions, something the bank has been known for across the sector.

Westpac and Commonwealth Bank already have largely dry workplaces, with booze bans in place.

This comes as NAB continues to entice staff back into the office, with former chief executive Ross McEwan ordering senior managers back five days a week from May last year. NAB only requires the rest of the staff to come in two or three days a week.

The decision to restrict access to alcohol, except on rare occasions, was made almost two months ago at senior levels of NAB. But emails have only recently started flowing through to NAB’s nearly 38,000 staff, warning them of the end to the bank’s lavish drinks sessions.

Senior staff at NAB have been couching the decision to end the bank’s booze-ups to put to the fore a “safe” working environment.

From now on NAB staff will only be allowed to drink during work hours at catered on-site events, with supervising service staff deciding who is and isn’t allowed a tipple.

However, some NAB staff are speculating the move to restrict drinks may also see the bank stepping back from funding end-of-year Christmas parties.

National Australia Bank CEO Andrew Irvine. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

The decision comes in the wake of a cultural review in NAB’s markets business and an investigation at rival ANZ’s markets business, sparked by a trading scandal, which has revealed concerns about workplace conduct in that bank’s dealing room.

ANZ told investors in July the bank had engaged specialist external counsel “ to investigate allegations of inappropriate conduct”.

The bank revealed staff had been sacked, suspended, or issued with formal warnings over concerns identified in the investigation, with sources indicating issues around alcohol and staff were at the centre of ANZ’s probe.

ANZ was subsequently slapped with an additional $250m capital penalty by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority in August, amid concerns about “several issues” in the bank’s markets business.

This included “poor behaviour by employees”, with APRA noting the issues raised concerns about “deficiencies in controls, risk culture, governance and accountability” at ANZ.

The extra capital penalty puts ANZ’s total good behaviour bond from APRA at $750m, after the bank failed to shrug off a $500m penalty imposed by the regulator in the wake of other scandals at the bank.

ANZ has also toyed with mooting an alcohol ban, but CEO Shayne Elliott noted this could prove difficult given many staff often had to schmooze clients during work hours.

“We also have to recognise that most of our people are in the business of dealing with customers,” he said.

“I’m not encouraging the use of alcohol, but I think a ban would be difficult to implement and actually maintain.”

ANZ CEO Shayne Elliott says an alcohol ban would be difficult to implement.

Mr Elliott told The Australian a decision on the booze ban would be “done by Christmas” noting there was “a lot of the low hanging fruit” around changes to ANZ’s code of conduct.

NAB has also faced concerns around its culture, with the bank currently embroiled in court action with its former head of repo trading Dikele Diawara, who is suing the bank, alleging bullying and harassment.

Ms Diawara claims NAB had a “boys club” culture in its markets business.

As revealed in The Australian, NAB managers also instructed staff to report highly positive responses to the bank’s heartbeat surveys, a measure used by the bank to gauge happiness within teams.

In response to the court claims, NAB commissioned two reviews of the markets business – one from a legal group investigating matters connected to Ms Diawara’s case and another from leadership consulting firm Serendis.

NAB said the report cleared the markets business, noting it was “friendly, inclusive, fair, caring and supportive”. However, The Australian is aware the report also made several comments about drinking issues and conduct in the markets team.

NAB has made several changes to the markets business in the wake of Ms Diawara’s court filing, with long term head Drew Bradford leaving in March last year and joining a crypto start-up.

Mr Bradford was replaced by Belgian banker Krista Baetens, who previously held a job in NAB’s Singapore business.

NAB’s Corporate & Institutional banking boss David Gall has also left the bank

Originally published as NAB to restrict workplace drinking amid ANZ culture scandal