Australian duo join the board in bank shake-up

TWO more National Australia Bank executives have joined the board of Yorkshire Bank as its parent company beefs up its oversight of the lender.

NAB finance director Mark Joiner and NAB wholesale banking executive Rick Sawers join the board of Yorkshire and Clydesdale banks, as well as their holding company, National Australia Group Europe.

NAB has overhauled its UK arm’s board in recent weeks after it slipped to a £186m half-year loss after provisions for mis-sold insurance and commercial property and a pension scheme gain.

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Other recent changes include the departure of Yorkshire and Clydesdale banks’ chairman, Sir Malcolm Williamson, who stood down after eight years and was replaced by group chief executive Cameron Clyne.

Non-executive directors Jonathan Dawson, Roy Nicolson and Elizabeth Padmore also left the banks last month.

Costain Group chairman David Allvey and former Man Group executive David Browne were appointed in their place, along with Barbara Ridpath, who previously ran the European arm of ratings agency Standard & Poor’s and former PricewaterhouseCoopers partner Alex Shapland.

Yorkshire Bank chief executive David Thorburn said: “We are delighted to welcome Mark and Rick to the boards.

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“As well as bringing extensive experience in financial services, their appointment underlines the group’s support for the new chapter we are beginning following the strategic review.”

The only non-executives to survive the cull are Sir David Fell and Richard Gregory, chairman of Yorkshire Bank.

The banks are embarking on a deep overhaul which will also feature 1,400 job cuts and the closure of 29 business banking centres in the South, as they retreat to their Northern and Scottish heartlands.

Yorkshire Bank will merge its Leeds back office operations into one site at Merrion Way, closing its Brunswick Point office.

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The UK banks have also ceased commercial property lending, with their Australian parent taking control of a £6.2bn book of problematic loans for office blocks, warehouses and housing developments.

Mr Clyne blamed the cuts on Britain’s economy being “longer and slower to recover than experienced in the 1930s”.

However, NAB has ruled out an imminent sale of the banks, and is instead prioritising improving their return on equity – a key measure of profitability in banking.

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