The ongoing fx options trading scandal surrounding National Australia Bank has claimed Frank Cicutto, ceo in Melbourne, and also looks likely to shrink the bank's appetite for derivatives. NAB recently announced that losses from what it deemed as unauthorized foreign exchange option trades last October will total around AUD360 million (USD274 million) (DW, 2/2). Brandon Phillips, spokesman at NAB in Melbourne, did not return messages.
William Ammentorp, senior banking analyst at Macquarie Bank in Sydney, said, "We wouldn't be surprised if NAB scaled back their aspirations and became more selective in terms of markets, products and customers they choose."
Other analysts, however, believe that NAB will plow ahead and continue to offer a range of fx, interest rate and credit products, albeit with greater attention to risk management. "Most of the business on this side is from customers--very little is principal trading," noted Brian Johnson, analyst at JPMorgan in Sydney.
John Stewart, executive director and ceo of National Australia Group Europe in London, has been appointed as the new ceo, according to the firm's Web site. Stewart, who joined the bank just over eight months ago, was the former deputy ceo at Barclays Bank in London.
