NAB content with investment lending settings

Ian Rogers
Andrew Thorburn, chief executive of National Australia Bank, said the bank's  annualised growth in residential investment lending over May was still above the APRA threshold. "But it's coming back every month," he told The Australian.


Monthly APRA data shows NAB increased lending in this category by 1.1 per cent in May, faster than growth for all banks of 1.0 per cent. Over six months this lending is up by 7.0 per cent, compared with 5.3 per cent for all banks.

NAB's level is nearer to APRA's threshold of ten per cent growth (annually) that invites close scrutiny of a lender's practices.

"We have a regular, ongoing dialogue with APRA and they know our position and when we're going to get back to a certain number, and they've accepted that. They understand our pipeline," Thorburn told the newspaper.

Thorburn also downplayed the likely impact on profitability from APRA's expected tightening of capital requirements in the sector, which may centre on risk weights in home lending.

"We need to see what APRA does, but it's still likely that mortgages will have a very attractive return at the margin," he said. "The return will go from high to quite high, so it will have a marginal impact but not a massive impact."