FSU calls for closer look at “rotten core” of banking industry



The Financial Services Union (FSU) has called on the Royal Commission to look more closely at NAB’s remuneration structures, in light of evidence from the back which it says “unveiled some of the worst excesses by any Australian bank which has severely disadvantaged customers”.
The FSU said it and its members had “watched with alarm” as the NAB’s wealth division’s fee structures came under fire.
“The evidence clearly shows that NAB bent over backwards to find a way to maintain fees,” FSU national secretary, Julia Angrisano, said.
“Charging fees for no service is bad enough but when a bank starts charging dead people for financial advice, it represents a new low.”
Angrisano also criticised the Commission, saying that it had “so far failed to examine in meaningful detail the impact of remuneration of senior executives on behaviours and we would like to see a detailed look at this issue before this Commission is over”.
“There is no doubt that there are deep and systemic cultural problems within the financial institutions, most recently at NAB Wealth,” she said. “There is also an urgent need to look closely at governance and cultural practices which are at the heart of the rotten core of Australian banking.”
Recommended for you
With an advice M&A deal taking around six months to enact, two experts have shared their tips on how buyers and sellers can avoid “deal fatigue” and prevent potential deals from collapsing.
Several financial advisers have been shortlisted in the ninth annual Women in Finance Awards 2025, to be held on 14 November.
Digital advice tools are on the rise, but licensees will need to ensure they still meet adviser obligations or potentially risk a class action if clients lose money from a rogue algorithm.
Shaw and Partners has merged with Sydney wealth manager Kennedy Partners Wealth, while Ord Minnett has hired a private wealth adviser from Morgan Stanley.