When Neil “Nobby”” Clark began his career at the National Bank as a humble teller he was just 16.

Upon retirement nearly 45 years later he noted the culture of banks had changed from when he started, when employees were hired straight out of school and stayed with the bank throughout their careers.

While he was a banker for 45 years in 1956, after a decade behind the counter, he took a year's leave to ponder his future. During his sabbatical he sold used cars, drove a brewery truck, got married and decided he would stay with the bank.

When he moved to Mount Isa in the 60’s as Manager of the National Bank Mount Isa Branch Bank Managers were influential and respected members of the community.

They were also master of their domain; autonomous and able to make the decision on lending based on their knowledge and instinct.

Which is why Clark had no qualms in lending money to a 23 year old woman with two children because she wore out four sets of pram tyres.

That woman was Ann Garms and while she was awarded an OAM for service to the hospitality industry in Queensland Clark grew to be a giant among men in the banking industry.

Clark worked his way up and by the end of the 1970s was part of the National Bank’s executive. In 1981 the NAB (National Australia Bank) was formed from the merger of the National Bank and the Commercial Banking Company of Sydney.

Clark declared it a highlight of his career and believed the merger gave NAB a greater level of experience, developed banking techniques and increased management expertise.

Clark went on to become chief executive/managing director of National Australia Bank (NAB) in 1985 and guided the company through the excesses of the 1980s.

He was widely praised for keeping his head at NAB when all the other bankers were losing theirs, setting up the subsequent surge. He was the first to recognize what a risk Alan Bond was and even managed to retrieve money NAB had lent to him.

Clark’s refusal to join in the orgy of bad lending to the legion of ‘white shoe’ property developers around at the time meant NAB suffered minor bad debt write-offs and it suddenly went from being the smallest of the big banks to the largest. 

He also undertook an expansion program into Britain that made NAB Britain's largest foreign bank.

From the start of 1990 to November 1992, Westpac and ANZ shares fell 55% but thanks to Clark NAB fell only 5%.

He is considered one of the titans of Australian banking, not only making the NAB the leading bank during his reign but being instrumental in driving the industry from highly regulated and insular.

His blunt manner and disdain for establishment niceties was gold for journalists. Outside of banking Clark is most remembered as one person who got the better of Paul Keating in a verbal joust.

Before the ceiling on interest rates on home loans was lifted in 1986 NAB made a large pre-emptive and strategic grab for share even as its funding costs were rising. Had the ceiling not been removed, the strategy could have been very costly.

In 1990, as Australia headed for “the recession we had to have” under then treasurer Keating, Clark memorably quipped: “If I had managed NAB the way Mr Keating managed the economy, I would be selling pencils and shoelaces in Collins Street.”

He was outspoken in his criticism of the Hawke Government and the Treasurer, Paul Keating, over interest rate policy but defended his occasionally vociferous political opinions.

“I wanted to bring to notice that banks were not the villains they are painted in some quarters. My intention was to put a banker's perspective on some of the policy issues that arise from time to time.”

As Treasure Keating used his position to denigrate the financial standing of the NAB in what was labeled “one of the most scandalous misuses of power by any finance minister anywhere in the world.”

Keating attacked Clark, who predicted that home interest rates could go even higher and suggested the Labor Government would lose the next elections if home interest rates went any higher.

"It's pretty disingenuous for Mr. Clark to be worrying about the Government's political fortunes when really what he's about is saying 'I have put up interest rates in the National Australia Bank, but this is the fault of the Government.'"

Before the ceiling on interest rates on home loans was lifted in 1986 NAB made a large pre-emptive and strategic grab for share even as its funding costs were rising. Had the ceiling not been removed, the strategy could have been very costly.

“Had it not been for Commonwealth assistance,” Keating said, "Nobby's board would certainly have him selling shoelaces and pencils in Collins Street".

The Treasure made a conditional retraction in Parliament, admitting his original assertion was nonsense. However Keating showed the blood of Bankstown boys flows strong when in a speech to celebrate Bankstown City’s Silver Jubilee in 2005 he stated.

“Or great administrators like Nobby Clark who built the modern National Australia Bank.”

The names around the statement highlighting Bankstown residents who had made it on the World stage included the Waugh twins, the Konrads, Ian Thorpe, Kevin Berry, Sandra Morgan, Don Talbot, Forbes Carlisle, Doug Carruthers and the man who built New Limited Ken Cowley.

Clark showed his ability to put aside personal attitudes when he offered support for Keating when Hawke’s reign was coming to its end.

“Paul and I have had our differences but he does have, I think, very strong leadership qualities,”

Retirement

Clark was 61 and with almost 45 years’ experience in banking when he retired in 1990 but far from putting his feet up he was "involuntarily volunteered" to sit on a number of boards, including Boral, Mayne Nickless and Elders IXL.

His highest profile positions were his fix-it roles as chairman of Coles Myer and Fosters, where he oversaw the company’s restructuring.

Clark took over as Chairman of Coles Myer in 1995 and lost the company’s two most experienced retailing executives and saw its shares lose 5.5 per cent in value in a rising market.

It was not a great start for Clark, charged by institutional investors and hoards of small shareholders with stopping the rot of previous years. Publicly, Clark was happy to state the view that Coles' problems were chiefly those of perception from outsiders and in his view there was not so much wrong with the group.

Clark was appointed Chairman as part of a fragile peace pact between the Solomon Lew-dominated board of Coles Myer Ltd and the major institutional shareholders.

For the major institutions and the Myer family (which together spoke for 31 per cent of Coles Myer's capital) - the acceptance of Clark as the new chairman was absolutely non-negotiable.

The troubles he stepped into began when Yannon, a $2 shelf company owned by First Boston, bought shares in Premier Investments in 1990. The shares were issued by Premier to help fund the purchase of a $450 million block of Coles Myer shares.

Yannon’s potential losses on the purchase were guaranteed by Coles Myer and in 1994, when Yannon’s Premier shares were sold to GPG, Coles Myer lost $18 million. Lew came into the spotlight following accusations that companies associated with him had benefited from his board positions with Coles Myer.

Sacked Coles Myer finance director Phillip Bowman took on Lew and Coles Myer was plunged into crisis, triggered a shareholder revolt against Lew's chairmanship and sparked a bitter legal dispute that earned Bowman a $1.75 million payout as well as a ringing endorsement from the retailer's then new chairman, Nobby Clark.

ASC (now ASIC) launched an inquiry into Yannon and this led to the push for Clark to replace Solomon Lew as chairman. Five years later the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions decided not to lay charges against any party following ASIC’s Yannon probe.

While Clark was not a household name to many plenty around him were. In November 1990 Clark took over Fosters from John Elliott at a time when the company was under intense pressure from its bankers over debts of around $4 billion.

Never one to walk away Elliott, through his private company International Brewing Holdings (IBH) dug his heels in. However, Clark and three other independent directors used an agreement from 1990 that said IBH was bound to back independent control of the board.

Clark and his cohorts threatened to resign unless they got Elliott’s support. While most observers felt Elliott could get the numbers an agreement was reached,

The Final Statement

Clark was both a visionary and old style banker. Way back in 1986 he argued that the 'distinction between domestic and intonational business would become increasingly meaningless.

At the same time he understood the biggest asset the business had was its staff; he understood banking and what it meant to the wider community.

Which is why, at the NAB’s 2004 AGM, 75 year-old Clark stole the show when he lambasted the board for the bank's lack of leadership, poor corporate governance and disastrous investment decisions during the past four years.

"The bank has under-invested in infrastructure and its people for years in the pursuit of short-term profit," he said, adding it "was not good enough".

He criticised several investment decisions and said the cultural problems that NAB had faced were in executive management and the office of the CEO and the board ought to take responsibility for the "lack of leadership".

Known for his support and encouragement of all levels of staff he said, to rousing applause,  that it was disgraceful that the venerable bank's reputation, its "fine brand", had been "peed up against a wall"