NAB a sell for McEwan

Ian Rogers
Ross McEwan (right) with NAB's acting CEO Phil Chronican
Ross McEwan will have a mandate for discipline and direct talk from his board when he settles in at NAB HQ on Monday December 2.

But will his board hold a mandate from him?

A merger with ANZ over the road or, better, Commonwealth Bank in Sydney, are a staple of any NAB CEO's agenda.

Or the shared servicing platforms, where are things at with those.

A politburo of one, McEwan will cautiously double NAB down in business banking and see where that leads.

As for NAB's vulnerability in retail banking, may he carve off a piece and sell it. UBank to fall back on, otherwise a prized asset.

McEwan will tread further than those National Australia Bank CEOs that preceded him, with M&A and cost leadership on his mind.

Once the fintech cloud settles few banking brands of note will endure and there may be fewer engines working away, and few reasons to figure NAB will be among them.