UK Regulatory Disclosures and Updates

Data protection law requires us to manage all personal information in accordance with the data protection principles and we (National Australia Bank) are committed to protecting your privacy.

We take the protection of your personal data very seriously and are pleased to provide you with our amended Privacy Statement (UK and EU).

NAB Privacy Statement (UK and EU) (PDF, 229KB), opens in new window

NAB places great importance on providing the highest standards of service to our customers.

If you feel that on this occasion we have not met the high standards we strive to achieve then we encourage you to let us know. Your feedback is important as it allows us to improve our services and the products that we offer.

We aim to get your complaint resolved as quickly as possible by the appropriate staff with the experience, knowledge and authority to handle your complaint efficiently and effectively.

We therefore aim to:

• make it easy for you to raise your complaint;
• listen to your complaint;
• consider your suggestions in putting matters right;
• ensure you are satisfied with how your complaint was handled;
• be polite, efficient and fair in all of our dealings with you.

This procedure explains what to do if you have a complaint about any of our services or products. It also outlines the timescales you should expect for resolving complaints and who to contact if you are not satisfied with our response.

How and where to complain

If you are dissatisfied with any aspect of our service or products, there are several ways in which you can choose to raise a complaint. You can advise us in person, in the first instance by contacting your usual business contact. If the issue is not resolved, please email our Complaints Officer Neil Duncan at Neil.W.Duncan@eu.nabgroup.com.

What we will do

We aim to resolve all complaints promptly and will acknowledge your complaint upon receipt. Our acknowledgement will outline the steps we propose to take in order to resolve your complaint. Sometimes, due to the nature of the issue we will need time to investigate it, but we will keep you updated on our progress and the anticipated timescales for responding to you.

Where we are unable to resolve your complaint after three business days, we will write to you or email you to acknowledge your complaint and to explain the action that we intend to take and who will be dealing with your complaint.

What to do if you are unhappy with our response

If you are not satisfied with our final response, you have the right to take legal action if you consider this necessary.

Summary of National Australia Bank's Policy on conflicts of interest applicable to National Australia Bank Limited and its controlled entities.

Overview

The nature and scope of National Australia Bank Group’s (NAB) activities mean NAB will face actual, potential or perceived conflicts of interest in the normal course of its business activities. These conflicts can give rise to decisions and actions that may be improperly influenced by personal or other motivations, negatively impacting our customers and NAB’s interests.

Conflicts may arise in a range of circumstances, including:

• NAB’s interests may conflict with those of our customers
• the interests of NAB People (our directors, offices, employees, secondees or NAB contract hires) may conflict with those of our customers
• the interests of two or more NAB customers conflict
• the interests of NAB People conflict with those of NAB.

NAB has implemented policies and procedures to identify, assess, document, and manage conflicts of interest, and is acting to avoid conflicts where they cannot be managed.

Identification of conflicts of interest

NAB operates a range of business procedures designed to identify conflicts of interest that may require management. NAB’s policies require that where conflicts are identified, they must be documented and appropriately escalated consistent with NAB procedures.

Management of conflicts of interest

NAB’s policies and procedures describe the methods which NAB may use to manage actual, potential or perceived conflicts of interest. Though it may be sufficient to disclose some conflicts (see the ‘Disclosure’ section), most require management using procedures and/or controls, supported by monitoring and supervision.

These include (but are not limited to) physical, technological, and organisational arrangements to protect customer interests and to manage actual or potential conflicts of interest.

NAB utilises physical, technological and organisational segregation arrangements to prevent or control the flow of information between NAB People as a means of preventing some conflicts of interest from crystalising.

Some conflicts must be avoided because they cannot be effectively managed, either because they pose an unacceptable risk or because it is required by law or regulation. In those circumstances, NAB may decline to proceed with the proposed service or transaction.

Capital markets allocation summary (PDF, 185KB), opens in new window

Disclosure

NAB will disclose conflicts where required by law or regulation and utilises disclosure on its own and in combination with other conflict management arrangements.

When used properly, disclosure can assist to ensure interests are transparent, acting as a counterbalance to conflicts of interest. Accordingly, NAB policies and procedures are designed to ensure that where we disclose conflicts, this is done at an appropriate time (e.g. prior to products and services being provided) and in a way that is clear, appropriately specific, and reasonably prominent.

Further information

Detailed internal NAB policy documents and operating procedures may not be fully represented in the summary description set out above. If you would like further regarding NAB’s conflicts of interest policies and procedures, please get in touch with your usual NAB contact.

Corporate Governance Framework

This provides information on the general terms of business regarding transactions undertaken by National Australia Bank Limited, London Branch.

Terms of Business (PDF, 443KB), opens in new window

Please familiarise yourself with the information on risks related to the MiFID II regulation.

Following the publication of Statutory Instrument 2021 No. 744 by HM Treasury, from 24 July 2021 the requirements in MiFID II to provide information on costs and associated charges for Professional clients and eligible counterparties were removed.

Therefore, NAB London will no longer provide this information. If you would like to receive information on costs and associated charges, please contact NAB.London.Onboarding@eu.nabgroup.com.

• MiFID II General Information Regarding Product Risks (PDF, 260KB), opens in new window

Please refer to our Systematic Internaliser Commercial Policy (PDF, 243KB), opens in new window

Please refer to our Best Execution Policy (PDF, 314KB), opens in new window

Following the publication by the FCA on 30 November 2021 of Policy statement 21/20 (“Changes to UK MiFID’s conduct and organisational requirements”) the FCA removed the requirement for firms to complete the RTS 28 reporting obligation with effect from 1 December 2021.

Therefore, NAB London will no longer publish an RTS 28 report.

If you would like to receive a copy of the RTS 28 report for the year ending 2017, 2018, 2019 or 2020 please contact NAB.London.Onboarding@eu.nabgroup.com.

The “Allocation Policy” is a NAB Group Policy, covering the activities undertaken by NAB London Branch with regards to the MiFID requirements.

Please refer to our Allocation Policy (PDF, 185KB), opens in new window

Following the publication by the FCA on 30 November 2021 of Policy statement 21/20 (“Changes to UK MiFID’s conduct and organisational requirements”) the FCA removed the requirement for firms to complete the RTS 27 best execution reporting obligation with effect from 1 December 2021.

Therefore, NAB London will no longer publish RTS 27 quarterly best execution reports.

If you would like to receive a copy of the quarterly RTS 27 reports for the periods 2018, 2019 and 2020 please contact NAB.London.Onboarding@eu.nabgroup.com.

Please familiarise yourself with our Placement and Underwriting information for issuer clients (PDF, 220KB), opens in new window.

The Benchmark Regulation EU 2016/1011 of the European Parliament and of the Council dated 8 June 2016 (EU BMR), was introduced due to concerns about the accuracy and integrity of indices used as benchmarks in financial markets. The BMR builds upon the global standards set out in principles published by the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) known as the “Principles for Financial Benchmarks” and imposes certain requirements on firms that provide, contribute to or use benchmarks in the European Union (EU) as defined in the EU BMR.

Following the end of the Brexit transition period on 31 December 2020, the UK ceased to be a member of the EU. A body of retained EU law has been created in the UK which is based on the EU law that applied to the UK prior to this date.

“UK BMR” means EU BMR as it forms part of retained EU law as defined in the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (as amended).

Similar to EU BMR, UK BMR contains transitional arrangements for third-country (non-UK) benchmark administrators, allowing such administrators to apply for recognition or enforcement from the UK’s financial conduct authority (FCA) prior to a specific date.

Third-country benchmark administrators will need to be authorised under the UK’s recognition or endorsement regime by 31 December 2022, unless an equivalence declaration is given by the UK in respect to them prior to such date. The UK Government has announced that it intends to extend this deadline to 31 December 2025. As a result, third-country administrators who want to continue using their benchmarks in the UK after 31 December 2025, must apply to the FCA for approval via equivalence, recognition or endorsement before this date.

The FCA has developed a UK Benchmarks Register, replacing the ESMA Register for UK supervised users, and UK and third country-based benchmark administrators that want their benchmarks to be used in the UK.

UK supervised entities within the National Australia Bank Limited group of companies (together, “NAB”) are required to comply with the UK BMR and EU BMR, as applicable.

NAB robust written plan

Article 28.2 of the EU BMR provides, among other things, that:

EU supervised entities that use benchmarks must produce and maintain a robust written plan setting out the actions to be taken in the event that one or more benchmarks materially change or cease to be provided. Where feasible and appropriate, the plan shall nominate one or several alternative benchmarks that could be referenced to substitute the benchmarks no longer provided, indicating why such benchmarks would be suitable alternatives.

NAB has written “Financial Benchmark Fallback Plan” to address the requirement in Article 28(2) of EU BMR (the Plan). This webpage contains a high-level summary of that Plan. Following a benchmark cessation or material change to a benchmark (together, a Trigger Event), NAB will invoke its Plan.

As a first step a qualitative assessment will be conducted to determine the materiality of the impact of the Trigger Event. Based on this materiality assessment an escalation decision will be made, after which a further, detailed impact assessment may be executed. This detailed assessment will include a quantitative and qualitative assessment of the Trigger Event, including where appropriate:

• identification of all products, transactions and counterparties including an impact analysis in terms of notional values, risk exposures and type of legal agreements;
• a review of affected agreements, products, counterparties and transactions including checking whether the existing contractual arrangements already contain alternative benchmarks and to what extent a benchmark event frustrates or otherwise breaches the terms of any financial contract or financial instrument;
• a qualitative review of the impact to internal systems, models and processes.

The overall purpose of the steps outlined above is to identify, where feasible and appropriate, a suitable and appropriate alternative benchmark that can be referenced in substitute of the existing benchmark subject to the Trigger Event. NAB will follow market standards to identify such alternative benchmarks as much as possible. For example, it is expected that for “critical benchmarks” (as defined in Article 20(1) EU BMR) the market, for example a Central Bank or working group or calculation agent, will nominate an alternative benchmark which NAB expects to include in new contractual agreements, where appropriate and relevant.

If it has not been feasible and appropriate to nominate an alternative benchmark based on market standards, a proposal of actions to be taken in relation to the affected benchmark may be prepared. The proposal will take into account the impact assessment and shall consider the replacement of that benchmark with an alternative benchmark, seeking approval or notifying a regulatory body (where relevant), amendment to contractual documentation, and notification of stakeholders.

Once the proposal has been approved, internal stakeholders will work together to implement the proposal. For example, clients may be notified or their consent may be sought to change the benchmark, and contractual documentation may be amended.

The description above is a high-level summary of the Plan only, and the process to be taken in relation to different countries, business lines or circumstances may differ. This summary only serves to provide general background information, is indicative and not necessarily complete or correct and is not intended to provide any individual, legal or other advice. The Plan and this summary are subject to change without notice.

Details of UK BMR are available at:

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukdsi/2019/9780111179208/contents, opens in new window

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2020/628/regulation/12/made, opens in new window

Financial Benchmark Reform – Disclosures for Derivatives, Floating Rates Notes and Loans