Briefs: CBA execs to miss bonuses, CEOs doing the rounds in Canberra, NAB has its own AUSTRAC woes
Cases such as the (now settled) Austrac case against CBA have so battered the group's share price that it's highly unlikely recently departed CEO Ian Narev (or any other CBA senior execs) will get any free shares this year under the bank's Group Leadership Reward Plan. "To hit the jackpot, CBA has to meet certain hurdles, which, barring an extraordinary fortnight, it won't do this year," observes the AFR's Rear Window columnist. The major banks' CEOs have been in Canberra this week to urge policymakers to take a balanced approach that ensures banks continue to support businesses seeking to grow, the AFR reports. Westpac Banking Corp chief executive Brian Hartzer met with Treasurer Scott Morrison and other politicians on Wednesday, after Commonwealth Bank chief executive Matt Comyn spent Tuesday in Parliament House, where he met Finance Minister Mathias Cormann and Trade Minister Steven Ciobo and briefed a meeting of the National Party. NAB's boss Andrew Thorburn was in Canberra this week as well. Between early 2016 and late last year, NAB had sent the anti-money-laundering regulator Austrac 24 letters and presentations relating to deficiencies in its Know Your Customers requirements. Austrac had discussed the deficiencies in 14 letters and emails sent to NAB over the same period, The Australian reports. The correspondence was revealed as part of an FOI request that was blocked by the bank on the fear the disclosure would "affect NAB's reputation and therefore investor confidence and NAB's share price".