NAB took two years to report misconduct: ASIC

Last month, Mr Thompson was convicted in the Melbourne Magistrates Court, prompting a statement from NAB in which the bank claimed it had uncovered the fraudulent activity internally and “subsequently” reported the misconduct to the authorities. 

However, ifa can exclusively reveal that, according to ASIC, NAB did not report Mr Thompson’s misconduct until March 2015 when the bank responded to a surveillance program the regulator had in place at the time.

At the time of the reporting, Mr Thompson was licensed by NAB competitor AMP, who began licensing him under its AMP Financial Planning subsidiary in 2013. 

An AMP spokesperson told ifa last week that the institution had conducted due diligence prior to his onboarding and that it was not privy to his termination by NAB or the ASIC investigation. 

A spokesperson for the regulator has confirmed to ifa that it did not inform any third parties of its investigation into Mr Thompson, saying it would have been unreasonable to disclose the activity. 

“Subjects of an investigation have a right to due process. ASIC does not alert the general public of misconduct until ASIC has completed its investigation,” the ASIC spokesperson said.

NAB has not responded to a request for comment.