NAB shares in trading halt as bank set to announce leadership changes
National Australia Bank is preparing to announce changes in its leadership, days after chairman Ken Henry and chief executive Andrew Thorburn were sharply criticised in the banking royal commission.
NAB on Thursday afternoon requested a trading halt "pending an announcement by NAB regarding leadership changes", which it expected to make later in the afternoon.
It is not clear what the changes are at this stage.
The royal commission's final report on Monday singled out Mr Thorburn and Dr Henry, saying they had not learned the lessons from past misconduct in NAB's wealth management arm.
Amid mounting speculation the criticism could cost Mr Thorburn his job, the CEO this week dug in, insisting the bank had not been dishonest in a scandal that saw NAB collect $100 million in fees without providing service in return.
Mr Thorburn cancelled plans to take long service leave to deal with the fallout from the royal commission, and on Tuesday said he had the full support of the board.
Separately, Sydney Morning Herald and The Age reports on Thursday into suspected large-scale fraud by Mr Thorburn's former chief of staff had insiders describing a culture of largesse and extravagant spending in his office, putting his executive oversight in question.
More to come...