Team size: 2271

What are the most significant cases and/or transactions that your legal team has recently been involved in?

NAB’s focus is on making the bank simpler for customers and NAB legal plays an integral role in this both as a strategic advisor and in performing the legal work. That has included advising on the following: first, the simplification and digitisation of NAB’s home lending, business lending, unsecured loans (credit cards and personal loans) and enterprise payments and products; second, the reimagining of our terms and conditions (Ts &Cs) for home loans and credit cards to make them more understandable and relevant to customers, including enabling customers to interact digitally with the Ts&Cs to learn about the product’s features, and their rights and responsibilities. NAB is also focusing on safe and disciplined growth and Legal plays a significant role in that including advising on: (i) the acquisition of 86400 and its integration with NAB’s digital bank, Ubank; (ii) the acquisition of Citigroup’s Australian consumer business; (iii) the sale of MLC; (iv) multiple capital raising and share buyback programs. In 2021, I was named one of the Top 20 GCs globally by the Financial Times for ‘redefining the role of the general counsel to be a strategic thinker’ and for being a ‘leader in simplification.’

How do you feel the pandemic has changed the world of work for in-house counsel and the function of the general counsel?

The pandemic has revolutionised the way we work and proved that we can work flexibly, both in time and place, and achieve strong business results. I hope that continues beyond the pandemic. I do not believe that the pandemic has changed the nature of the work or the function of the general counsel. When the lockdowns began in 2020, NAB seamlessly switched more than 30,000 of its people, including all of NAB legal worldwide, to working from home (WFH), with no decline in productivity or efficiency. Zoom and Teams have been used effectively to communicate and our skills on those tools and in technology generally have improved. We have experienced innovation and creativity in all areas: customer service and support; work practices; teamwork; and social interactions. Many of us have enjoyed the flexibility WFH has allowed. Avoiding the daily commute and working from where you like and at hours of the day that suit you, customers, and the business’s needs, has been a revelation to many of us. We have learned that we can work from home effectively and that not all work needs to be performed during standard business hours. I believe this can be a game changer for all of us and especially those juggling caring responsibilities and work.