Code of Conduct for National Australia Bank

GOVERNANCE, ETHICS & SUSTAINABILITY
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Governance, Ethics & sustainability
Professor
Institution
Date

GOVERNANCE, ETHICS & SUSTAINABILITY
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Introduction
National Australia Bank commonly known as the NAB is one of the biggest financial
institutions in Australia in relation to their earnings, customers and market capitalisation.
Recently the bank was ranked 21st largest bank in the world in terms of its market
capitalisation and also classified as 41st largest bank in the world in terms of its total assets.
Later the bank fell to 49th largest in 2016 and operated 1590 branches inclusive of the service
centres (Forughi and Zoysa 2012). The number of customers has increased enormously
demonstrated by the increased number of ATM across Australia. Due to these current
developments there has been increased pressure on the management to ensure that quality
service is delivered to their customers adequately and to achieve this National Australian
bank must adapt the usage of a code of conduct to regulate its employees’ behaviour. The
code of conduct has numerous roles ranging from controlling employee-employee
relationship to employee-customer relation. Once it’s constructed it becomes enforceable and
any employee in breach of the code faces stipulated sanctions in relation to the breach. The
code serves a very important purpose in any company and is essential and integral part of any
modern company today (Sheridan and JANG 2012).
Recently the national Australian bank flagged an additional of A$749 in charges to refund
a large number of customers who were aggrieved and wronged by the bank in one way or
another. The bank therefore vowed to take stun measures to review its policies and ensure
that employees involved in any form of misconduct are discipline. In light of these
circumstances I came up with a code of conduct for the bank so as to help them curb such
issues:

GOVERNANCE, ETHICS & SUSTAINABILITY
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National Australia Bank
Content
Purpose.......................................................................................4
Scope.........................................................................................4
A. Discrimination..........................................................................5
B. Exploitation.............................................................................5
C. Corruption..............................................................................6
D. Dishonest and Fraudulent Behaviour..............................................8
E. Whistle-blower Protections..........................................................9
F. Enforcement...........................................................................9
Declaration................................................................................12
Code of Conduct

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1. Purpose
At National Australia Bank we are dedicated to attaining workable performance and
conveying value to our esteemed customers and shareholders, without neglecting our values
and reliable reputation. Our code of conduct outlines ethical conduct and standards of
responsibility that is expected from all our employees whether permanent or temporary. This
extends to the consultants, directors and contractors. NAB believes that all employees and
customers should be treated with dignity and respect, therefore we require all our employees
to behave ethically and responsibly in conformity to our code of conduct so as to achieve
proper business behavior within the organisation (Takáts and Tumbarello 2009).
We are dedicated to the protection of anyone who makes honest revelations and will not
accept victimisation and/or contrary penalties such as discrimination, dismissal, demotion or
other hostile action in reprisal for those sincere disclosures (National Australia Bank 2016).
All employees must go through annual compliance training in which they must undergo
training related to the code
2. Scope
The code applies to national Australia Bank limited, related branches and NAB’S
employees. This code also applies to the consultants, shareholders and contractors who deal
in business with the bank (Rendtorff 2017). Adherence to this code is mandatory for the
aforementioned parties.