National Australia Bank Ltd (NAB) chief executive Cameron Clyne says the bank’s decision to abolish penalty and other exception fees on some of its accounts has started to improve the bank’s reputation.

But Mr Clyne said the negative perception of NAB was the result of the bank’s past actions and there was a long way to go to improve its image.

Mr Clyne also said there needed to be debate in Australia about how to become less reliant on offshore funding, something he described as the great weakness of the economy.

“One of the goals I set for myself was improving the reputation of the bank,” Mr Clyne said at an Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce lunch on Monday.

“The first thing we set out to do was deal with fees.
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National Australia Bank Ltd chief executive Cameron Clyne has taken home a 76 per cent hike in total remuneration to $5.2 million compared with when he ran the bank’s New Zealand operations but is still paid only about two-thirds of his predecessor at the top job.

By contrast, Mr Clyne’s more experienced predecessor John Stewart pocketed $8.513 million in total remuneration last year.

Mr Clyne received a cash salary of $2.3 million, short-term incentive cash payments of $812,500, options valued at $1.17 million, shares worth $784,400 and non-monetary fixed compensation worth $18,580, according to the bank’s annual report issue on Monday,

Mr Clyne took over the top job at NAB from Mr Stewart on January 1 this year.
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By Jill Fraser

Speaking to Lending Central about his push to benchmark the cost of banks’ wholesale funding Yellow Brick Road chairman, Mark Bouris said that the four majors’ recent move to increase their fixed rate is a worrying sign.

“That tells you they’re taking the view that cost of funds is going to increase tremendously next year,” he said.

Bouris has been maintaining for some time that an industry benchmark should be introduced to track the cost of banks’ wholesale funding.

Last week NAB Chief Executive Cameron Clyne backed Bouris’ proposal.

Bouris spoke to Lending Central about his concept.

LC: What benefits would be derived from publishing a benchmark funding rate for banks?
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National Australia Bank Ltd (NAB) chief executive Cameron Clyne says rising bad debt levels will be feature of most banks’ results over the “next couple” of half years, particularly if unemployment rises.

Mr Clyne said while Australia was experiencing a milder downturn that other countries around the world, its banks had already seen a rise in corporate credit impairments related to leveraged business models over late 2008 and early 2009.

“We are now very much in the same phase of the downturn and we saw that particularly, I think, in most banks’ results, with an up-tick in the March half (year) with bad and doubtful debts,” he told ABC Television.

“We think that’s going to be a feature in the next couple of halves.
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National Australia Bank Ltd (NAB) has called for a public debate on how interest rates are set after spiralling funding costs and bad debts driven by the global economic crisis dragged down its first half earnings.

NAB on Tuesday reported bad and doubtful debts rose to $1.8 billion in the first six months of its fiscal year,

from $700 million in the previous corresponding period.

This combined with a $1.2 billion jump in collective provisions resulted in a raft of bearish statements from the bank and little guidance on its outlook.
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National Australia Bank Ltd (NAB) chief executive Cameron Clyne says the impact of the global financial crisis may have bottomed in the US and UK, but he cannot be sure.

Mr Clyne said many people were optimistic that the worst of the crisis may be over, and this had been reflected in recent rallies in share markets around the world.

“I think, unfortunately we have had too many false dawns for us to declare it,” he said during a speech on Wednesday.
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National Australia Bank Ltd (NAB) chief executive Cameron Clyne says the move to cut the bank’s dividend for the first time in 18 years is the right decision, but he admits that the bank’s performance has disappointed shareholders.

NAB announced last week that it would slash its first half dividend by 25 per cent due to the challenging market environment.

Mr Clyne defended the cut, saying it was necessary to set up a conservative balance sheet.
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National Australia Bank (NAB) will refocus its energies on its hometown market, where the economy is faring better than others, to support its business through the global financial crisis.

New chief executive Cameron Clyne on Thursday laid out his strategy to steer the country’s third biggest bank through the recessionary conditions that have already taken a hefty toll on its overseas counterparts.

The main message from the Mr Clyne, who at 40 is the youngest of the big four bank chiefs, was one of safety first.
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National Australia Bank Ltd (NAB) will cut its first half dividend by about 25 per cent and focus on growing its Australian business as it prepares to sit out the global economic downturn.

The bank also said it will retain its UK operations because its international businesses are proving resilient despite the difficult economic climate.

In a strategy update announced on Thursday, new NAB chief executive Cameron Clyne also flagged a restructure of its struggling nabCapital division.
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A broker’s report says job losses at National Australia Bank Ltd (NAB) are inevitable, amid reports the bank will announce retrenchments when it delivers a strategy update on Thursday.

Citi said that while it does not expect large numbers of jobs to go, “rationalisation is inevitable” across its global operations, given the current economic climate.

Citi’s comments came after the Herald Sun newspaper reported on Wednesday that NAB was planning “deep” and “across the board” job cuts in its local, UK and New Zealand operations.
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National Australia Bank Ltd (NAB) has appointed the head of its New Zealand operations, Cameron Clyne, as its new chief executive to succeed John Stewart as the bank faces up to challenging conditions in financial markets.
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