National Australia Bank (NAB) has appointed Ian Saines as a non-executive director and chair-elect.
Saines, a former Commonwealth Bank (CBA) group executive, will join the board in March 2027 and take over as chair in July 2027 from Philip Chronican.
Chronican will leave the board after 11 years with the bank, including eight as chair. Saines’ appointment is subject to regulatory approval, and NAB will nominate him for election by shareholders at its annual general meeting in December 2027.
Ian Saines brings CBA and Macquarie experience to NAB
Saines spent almost 10 years at CBA, including five as Group Executive, Institutional Banking and Markets, a role that reported to the CEO.
Before that, he held senior positions at Zurich Capital Markets Asia and Bankers Trust Australia, and he later worked as an executive at Challenger.
He has been a director of Macquarie Bank since 2022 and is resigning from that board to join NAB.
He is a director of NSW Treasury Corporation, where he chairs the board investment committee, and served on the board of NYSE-listed Air Lease Corporation for 16 years until April 2026.
Chronican said the board wanted deep banking experience to lead NAB through what he called an uncertain period for the industry and the country.
“Ian is well placed to lead the NAB Board given his deep knowledge of financial services from the perspectives of major Australian and international finance and wealth organisations,”
said Philip Chronican, Chair, National Australia Bank.
Saines points to pressure from new entrants and technology
Saines said he would support CEO Andrew Irvine and the senior leadership team, describing NAB as Australia’s largest business bank and a major supporter of consumer customers.
He pointed to competition from inside and outside the sector as a challenge for the bank.
“At the same time NAB, like all banks, faces challenges from within the industry, new entrants and new technologies. That only reinforces NAB’s declaration and need to be customer obsessed,”
said Ian Saines, Chair-elect, National Australia Bank.
Chronican joined the NAB board in 2016 and served as acting Group CEO in 2019 before taking on the chair role.
He has more than 40 years of Australian banking experience and is the longest-serving current chair of a major Australian bank.
Featured image credit: Based on image by NAB
