Miscreant NAB planner was business banker
National Australia Bank (NAB) has confirmed that one of its financial advisers who had forged client initials on binding death nomination documentation had come to the bank’s planning arm from being an associate in the NAB’s business banking arena.
NAB’s chief customer officer, Andrew Haggar has told the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry that the planner, Bradley Meyn, had originally been in involved as an associate assisting business bankers in serving customers such as entrepreneurs and small and medium enterprises.
Haggar said that while he did not know the numbers of people who had done it, business banking to financial planning was one of the career paths that a bank staff member.
He said Meyn had completed the training required to become an adviser and had been issued with a letter of authority.
Under questioning from Senior Counsel assisting the Royal Commission, Rowena Orr QC, Hagger confirmed that Meyn had acknowledged forging the initials and the dates on the binding death nominations of a husband and wife who were clients.
Asked what were the potential consequences for a client of a failure by their financial adviser to comply with the witnessing requirements for a non-lapsing binding death nomination, Hagger said it created the potential for the beneficiary nomination form to be invalid, “and for the trustee to then make a determination in the event of death, and in doing so, there is then the possibility that the trustee would allocate funds differently to the initial wishes expressed by the client”.
“So this conduct had the potential to affect these clients’ estate planning wishes?” Orr asked.
Hagger confirmed this was the case.
Hagger will continue giving evidence to the Royal Commission today.
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