NAB boss says his attitude is "opposed" to Hayne's description | Australia news

National Australia Bank boss Andrew Thorburn said he believed his attitude and leadership were "the opposite" of how the Royal Bank Commissioner, Kenneth Hayne, said. described, and he remains "determined" to remain in the high functions of the bank. .

The chief executive of NAB has been conducting a public relations offensive since Hayne's report was released Monday afternoon, after the commissioner questioned the ability of bank executives to initiate a downward shift.

Thorburn appeared on Tuesday morning in consecutive talks against Hayne's conclusion, telling Sky Business that the commissioner was wrong to describe him and Ken Henry, president of NAB.

"I agree that when you read the reference to myself and President Ken Henry, I found it overwhelming and difficult to read," he said. "I felt that it was hard. I respect the point of view of the commissioner he said. That's his point of view. I do not share it.

"I feel that we recognize; we make decisions [and] actions that prove that we want to rebuild trust with customers.

"I'm very honored to be a leader, especially at NAB, and I feel that the way he describes me is the opposite of what I want to be and who I am, and the [sort of way] I run in the company …

"I think we have been contrite. I think that's where we need to be clear. If you go back and look at what I said, and Ken Henry said, including in the commission, and other statements that we made, we said that we had committed mistakes, we are sorry, we want to fix them, make new decisions. "

Thorburn was strident in his defense of Henry.

"The Ken Henry I know and work with every day is honest, has values, gives priority to customers, lives in a small Australian city, always thought long term and did what is right for Australia. It's the Ken Henry I know, not the Ken Henry I'm talking about in the Ken Hayne report. "

In another interview with Melbourne's 3AW radio station, Thorburn admitted again that the bank had not corrected the errors fast enough, but had added "to make our customers first" before the report was released .

"We make good decisions and make better decisions to prioritize customers. It's all together, in my opinion, "said Thorburn, who has been with NAB since 2005.

"I admit we made mistakes and that's not enough. I said that when we committed them, we did not correct them quickly enough. We have just been too slow to do it. It's a bad culture, a bad practice.

Hayne, a former Supreme Court justice, insisted on naming the duo as two leaders who had left him "not as confident that I would like the lessons of the past to have been learned."

"I was not convinced that NAB is willing to accept its responsibility to decide what to do, and then ask its staff to act accordingly," Hayne said.

This mention led to speculation about the pair's future in the bank, which is being investigated further by regulators, following the recommendations of the royal commission.

In a statement to the Australian Securities Exchange on Tuesday morning, the two men announced their intention to stay, Thorburn announcing that he had canceled his planned long-term leave, which was to continue until the end. end of the month.

In the same statement, Henry disagreed with Hayne's description of his attitude: "In her final report, Commissioner Hayne stated that I did not seem to want to accept criticisms of how the board of directors had addressed some of the issues raised by the Committee.

"I am disappointed that the Commissioner has formed this point of view. I know this is not the case. The board of directors and I have thought hard about these issues and, as I said, we take them very seriously.

"We said we are not ready to accept good intentions when urgency, consistency and discipline are needed. The board conducted a thorough review of our culture, our governance and our responsibility. We are the only bank to have released our valuation, which clearly describes 26 areas where we are focusing on becoming a better bank. "

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and his opposition counterpart Chris Bowen did not hesitate to comment on whether NAB leaders should keep their jobs, not only in the market but also in the marketplace. to the board of directors to make the decision.