Unethical Business Practices at National Australian Bank

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The adoption and maintenance of an ethical culture in banking is an area of interest for
different stakeholder groups including customers, employees, banks management and regulators.
Maintenance of corporate ethics may come with multiple benefits for an organization. Ethical
practices may build customer loyalty and improve the overall reputation of an organization. In
addition, it might protect an organization from facing any associated legal consequences and play
a role in the maintenance of a positive work environment. Openness and fair dealings with
customers also enhances the retention of good employees. The Australian banking sector has
recently been on the spotlight over unethical business practices.in its findings on the misconduct
in the Australian Banking and superannuation industries. In particular, some of the country’s top
banks were recommended for prosecution due to unethical business practices. Some of the
affected banks include National Australian Bank, ANZ Banking Group and Commonwealth
Bank. The focus of this report will, however, be on the National Australian Bank
Nature of Inappropriate Behavior in the National Australian Bank
One of the unethical practices identified at the National Australian Bank was the issuance
of 2300 home Loans based on incomplete and inaccurate documentation. In addition, the Bank
was found to have breached the Corporations Act. It also failed to live to the expectations of
customers by charging fees for services that were not delivered (Wright, 2018). It was also found
out that the practice of doctoring client documents was widespread practice within the
company.it was also found out that a total of 353 employees of the company had falsely
witnessed the signing of client documents to help their colleagues despite the fact that they were
absent during client meetings. This practice had affected more than 2520 customers (Hutchens
and Knaus, 2018). Employees at the National Australian Bank were also found to have flaunted

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ethical laws by accepting cash bribes to approve falsified mortgages. Usually, they did this to
smash sales targets (Vercoe, 2019).
Practices of National Australian Bank from a socially responsible framework
An organization’s code of ethics specifies the acceptable and unacceptable behaviours
within the organizational context. It stipulates bests practices for the organization stakeholders
allowing organizations to have behaviours and values embedded in their corporate culture. In the
banking and superannuation sectors, organizations are required to operate on a socially
responsible framework through the provision of accurate information to their customers, abiding
by laws preventing corruption and money laundering. Part of the commitments by the Australian
National Bank is delivering value to its stakeholders and achieving sustainable performance
without compromising its trusted reputation and organizational values (National Australia Bank,
2019). The Company’s code of conduct outlines the ethical conduct and standards of
responsibility that need to be adhered to by both temporary and permanent employees.
Additionally, the organization strongly believes that all employees and customers should be
treated with dignity. All employees are also expected to behave ethically and in a socially
responsible manner (National Australia Bank, 2019 a).the code may be broken down into various
sections.
Personal conduct
All employees are expected to behave in a professional manner that promotes goodwill,
trust and confidence in fellow employees, special human rights, the community, suppliers and
colleagues. Employees are expected at all times both in and out of work to treat members of the
community, colleagues and customers respectfully, fairly and with dignity. In addition,
employees are expected to comply by all relevant laws, procedures, policies and