Did the credit crunch NAB another scalp?

It’s not a great career move.

Quitting, that is, just a few days after your employer had to set aside $830 million, to cover losses  incurred on your watch.

That’s not a great look.

The National Australia Bank is well aware of what is being said, about the announcement that its present chief executive, John Stewart, will be leaving soon.

Charitable people might well applaud, arguing that Stewart has acted – honorably – accepting responsibility for that loss.

A decision firmly in the great tradition of Scott of the Antarctic.

The less charitable view is that John Stewart has been made to take that responsibility.

Naturally enough, the bank is trying to discourage both views, saying the Stewart’s departure has been in planning for 18 months.

Its chairman, Michael Chaney, was blunt about that, saying there is absolutely no connection between Stewart’s decision to quit and that $830 million.

“Any suggestion that there is a connection is way off the mark,” Chaney told reporters.

But that won’t convince everyone.

Stewart, who is now 59, will take a generous retirement package with him.

The talk is that it will add up to more than $3 million.

Mr Stewart, a Scot, originally signed on for a three year period as NAB’s CEO, back in 2004, but was persuaded to stay on, at the end of that time.

His declaration, when he accepted the job, might find a place, one day, in a collection of famous first words.

“We have some short term issues to manage,” Stewart said back then, in an oblique reference to a nasty currency trading scandal.

But he took a bold view, at that time.
“…I am confident that the board and the management team will tackle these head on and the National will continue to improve.”

That was three years before the credit crunch, perhaps even before collateralised debt obligations became fashionable.

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