NAB Chief Says Open To Debate Over Bank Super Tax

Cameron Clyne, chief executive of Australian banking major NAB says he is not opposed to having a debate on whether the government imposing a super-profits tax on Australian lenders.

Speaking at a business lunch, Mr. Clyne said that banks suffered perception of “large numbers”. Australian banks posted billions of dollars in profits last year.

“If there is a view from some in the community that the banks should pay more tax, then what I’d certainly be saying — as one of them — is ‘sure, we’ll be part of that debate’,” he said during a question-and-answer session at an American Chamber of Commerce lunch in Adelaide.

“You can’t put your head in the sand.The question will be: how do you define it?”

NAB’s full year profits last year were $2.6 billion, CBA posted $4.7 billion, Westpac recorded $3.45 billion, whilst ANZ delivered $2.94 billion in last years profits, according to The Australian.

Mr. Clyne in addressing the concern that profits were large, said that whilst the raw numbers were big, as measured by return on assets or equity, the banks ranked in the middle when compared with other companies.

Mr. Clyne acknowledged that such an argument would not resonate well because detractors would simply point at the raw profit numbers.

“You can’t construct a super tax off the raw numbers, so if people have a construct they want to talk about, we’d be happy to be in that debate,” he said.

Despite saying he was open to debate Mr. Clyne denied he was open to negotiation over the possibility of the imposition of a bank super tax, flatly saying that “There’s not one on the table.”

According to the Australian Bankers Association website, Australian retail banks paid $9.7bn in tax in 2007.

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