NAB History, page-2

It is true that NAB have had some well publicised disasters mainly relating to overseas expansion plans, not unlike its peers. Of course our banks operate in a relatively small market and are always looking for opportunities for growth (often demanded by investors) The Banks forays into overseas markets are usually heralded with fanfare and are promoted as real drivers for growth however as history has shown us it usually ends in tears for a variety of reasons. Criticism from the peanut gallery is usually after the event and of course the buck stops with shareholders.
Fortunately the NAB has continued to produce solid core profits to mitigate the mistakes however some such as Homeside took a big hit from the bottom line.
Of course since the RC we have also seen all the banks refocus on core products and reduce exposure to problem childs like Financial Planning and Insurance which tend to get entangled in other regulated products.
I expect a cycle of "looking for growth" with eyes on bigger world markets will come again and is something to watch with caution.
As for CCC, that is a rather interesting re write of history!!
CCC was incorporated in 1953 and my understanding was the National Bank of Australasia (NBA) took a significant ownership position (40%) either at that time or soon after, however I do not know when they attained 100% ownership, but I thought it was a long time ago.
Finance Companies were born in an era of highly regulated banking and were able to provide consumer finance which the banks couldn't. In an unregulated environment they were able to adapt quickly to changing demands as consumer demand grew. This was particularly true during the 40's, 50's, 60's and even into the 70's before things started to change.
The difference in regulatory control between the banks and finance companies was recognised in the mid 70's, however instead of imposing additional regulation on finance companies the interest rate ceiling was lifted for banks and they were able to start providing the same products and compete directly with finance companies. Subsequently, NAB integrated the CCC operations directly with its other operations in 1983. The deregulation of the banking industry in 1984 further saw the demise of finance companies as they found it harder to find areas to exploit where the banks could not compete. Finance companies had undergone considerable rationalisation by this stage and further consumer lending regulations further reduced their effectiveness, with those left generally operating in higher risk commercial areas.
To suggest that the NAB at the time was run by CCC management is laughable!
It should be remembered that during the 80's and early 90's NAB had very conservative management and were often criticised for that fact. NAB's conservatism ultimately proved the right path as NAB emerged the strongest bank from the early 90's recession.
Finance Company management were anything but conservative (did I hear someone say Cowboys?) and those still operating were always trying to push the boundaries. Strong leadership from the parent Bank management was required to ensure exposure didn't escalate.
As an example, I am sure many remember (at least those of a certain age) that in 1992 WBC produced the largest loss (to that time) in Australian Corporate history and was in quite a state. A significant part of that loss was contributed to by AGC which had moved into large commercial property development in the 80's which proved a disaster when the slump came!!
No, finance companies had their day many years ago however regulation caught up with them and they lost any competitive edge a long time ago..............