NAB advice investigation goes global

In a letter to the House of Commons Treasury Select Committee chairman Andrew Tyrie MP – seen by ifa – Senator Dastyari asked whether the committee would be able to “share any documents relating to allegations of misconduct by [NAB] or their subsidiaries in the UK”.

The committee released a report in early March criticising the NAB-owned Yorkshire and Clydesdale Banks and calling on them to overhaul their internal customer compensation processes, which it described as having "serious shortcomings". 

In his letter, Mr Dastyari tells his British counterpart that the Australian parliament is investigating “allegations that NAB employees engaged in systemic misconduct” and that the bank attempted to “conceal their internal investigation and disciplinary actions” from ASIC.

“Our investigation into NAB is part of an ongoing inquiry into misconduct in the Australian financial advice industry,” the letter states.

“We would be very grateful for any opportunity to cooperate, or share information, on this matter.”

The letter follows Assistant Treasurer Josh Frydenberg telling ifa that ASIC’s top priority is addressing the issues within NAB’s financial advice arm.

“We have no plans for a royal commission but have responses to a number of inquiries – FSI, PJC and the ASIC inquiry,” Mr Frydenberg said.

“We are looking at strengthening the powers of ASIC in a number of areas and I have spoken to the head of ASIC about the most recent episode at NAB and he said those investigations are of utmost importance.”