NAB’s acquisition of Citigroup’s Australian consumer banking business moved one step closer to completion this week, when the Treasurer gave his approval for the deal.

A NAB spokesperson confirmed that the bank was notified of the Treasurer’s approval on Wednesday. The ACCC has already said it will not oppose the deal and now the parties are waiting on APRA to complete the regulatory approvals.

At June 30 last year, Citi’s Australian consumer banking business had lending assets of around A$12.2 billion, including $7.9 billion of residential mortgages, and $9 billion of deposits.

About 800 Citi employees, including senior management, will join NAB.

The deal was priced on a multiple of eight times the business’s pro forma net profit of $145 million for the 2020/21 year.

In the meantime, Citi is getting on with the business. Yesterday, it announced the appointment of Hannah Oakhill as its new head of retail banking and wealth management.

Oakhill is moving to Citi from BT, where she led distribution and customer experience for BT’s direct business. She has also worked at Westpac and Macquarie.

She will be working with NAB on the transition program and will be focused on the “customer migration strategy”.