P&N go bananas in banking
The fintech thing has a lot to do with the agreed merger of the former Banana Coast Credit Union and P&N Bank. With assets of around A$6 billion, Banana Bank will be the eighth largest mutual ADI, taking a shot at long-lasting success in Australian finance. BCU has wandered this year, mostly under the radar, through an episode of the alleged theft of member resources by its former chief executive. Resolution of matters already in the public domain lie in the hands of the courts in Queensland. The Queensland connection is a little telling - in search of skilled labour the head office of BCU is effectively in Brisbane, well north of its first home in Coffs Harbour.Steve Targett, a former ANZ bigwig turned mutual bank CEO and now chair of BCU says the board has approached matters "diligently", implying no more adverse news will belittle the credit union's legacy.Lyndon Kingston, the former BCU boss stands accused of allegedly providing his wife with a sham redundancy package worth $340,000, along with millions of dollars' worth of kickbacks and other unlawful payments to his own hidden accounts, according to court documents, as reported by the ABC and Daily Mail back in September.Kingston claims unpaid bonuses from the credit union, with BCU counter-suing to recover millions in payments he unjustifiably made to himself and his wife.The credit union hired Kingston from his previous position as a senior manager at Australian Prudential Regulation Authority, ten years ago. ASIC is looking into aspects of BCU's counterclaim, in which it is alleged Kingston committed five fraudulent acts and 12 dishonest and morally unfit acts during his nine years as chief executive of the company.Andrew Hadley, CEO of P&N Bank told Banking Day his board was "satisfied with the disclosure" by BCU.Founded by reform-minded banana farmers following the defeat of bank nationalisation, BCU will be dancing around the banking cartel with a Perth-based mutual founded by nurses and teachers.With the farmers by and large still banking with BCU, business banking capability is a key feature for of BCU , in the minds of P&N. BCU will reweight the business mix of P&N and simplify managing risk in a new domain for this WA tyro.Crop finance and other business finance is core business for BCU. P&N will soon overlay its enterprise on this functionality, and a deep push into business banking is one of the options for Banana Bank to monitor.