NAB the world's 11th safest bank

NAB has been named the 11^th safest bank in the world and the safest in Australia by Global Finance magazine's Safest Banks 2009 listing.

The listing, which draws on information from ratings agencies Moody's, Standard & Poor's and Fitch, puts NAB in the top 21 percent of the world's safest 50 banks.

Global Finance publisher Joseph Giarraputo said banks like NAB had demonstrated "a more prudent and sustainable approach to risk than their peers", adding that this made them an appealing choice for customers.

"More than ever, customers around the world are viewing long term creditworthiness as the key feature of the banks with which they do business," he said.

Agencies like Moody's give banks a long term credit rating based broadly on their ability to be able to meet their commitments to repay deposit account holders.

NAB, as well as the other 'big four' banks in Australia, has a AA rating.

Normally, ratings range from AAA, which is the highest, to D, which means a bank is defaulting on its payments.

This week Moody's senior vice-president Patrick Winsbury said that while the global financial crisis was having an impact on the finance industry, Australian banks were well placed to remain safe and stable.

"Even in a severe downside scenario we would expect Australia's major banks to remain solidly positioned within the AA rating band," he said.

What NAB employess had to say:

Estelle Perera-Kujawski of Retail (VIC) said 3 hours ago proud to be working for nab. We at retail can make sure our customers are aware when they try to bank-bash on different issuesReply to article

Nick Blakeney of Technology (NSW) said 4 hours ago The link is the word "listing" under the NAB logo / Picture - the second word of the second paragraph.Reply to article

Jan Gordon of Retail (NSW) said 4 hours ago c b a are 12thReply to article

Nick Blakeney of Technology (NSW) said 5 hours ago Good to see the big 4 Australian banks in the top16.

Pity NAB wasn't 10th and in the top 20% would have been that little bit better, but at least we're pretty close.Reply to article

Bryan Lawrence of MLC (VIC) said 5 hours ago I don't really mean to be a party pooper but aren't those rating agencies the guys who told us what a great investment those CDO's were? (The ones that cost us that $850 million odd.)Reply to article

Jeff Chan of Retail (NSW) said 8 hours ago It is good news for NAB, but what about the rest of best banks ranking from 1st to 10th? Can any one can provide it?Reply to article

Stella Zhang of Technology (VIC) said 9 hours ago What a good news in such an economy downturn! It can boost cofidence not just for our customers, but also for employees ourselves.Reply to article

Terry Owen of Retail (QLD) said 1 day ago Hopefully with this awe-inspiring result, we'll continue on our journey to maximise our share of the wallet going forward. Mind you we could easily become complacent and slip into the chasm that is the 'world economic crisis' in regards to lending. I'm sure we wont take the 'Que Sera Sera, whatever will be, will be' approach. More action is required to ensure we get into the top 10.Reply to article

Milica Stojic of Retail (WA) said 1 day ago Well Done to all NAB team members :-)
Cheers!Reply to article

Hana Ayoub of Retail (NSW) said 1 day ago That's a great news, We feel proud. Well Done NABReply to article

Karel Young of Technology (VIC) said 1 day ago I was looking through and I though that it was interesting (in this time of Global Financial issues) that all 4 of the 'Big 4' Banks in Australia are in the Top 16
NAB - 11
CBA - 12
ANZ - 15
WBC - 16
I feel a little better that ALL of our banks are considered rather safe in the world wide marketplace rather than only one or two. Gives me hope for the economy surviving the experience.
(And The highest US Bank is #21)
It would be interesting to see the 'Scores' for each bank though.Reply to article

Angela Mahon of Technology (VIC) said 1 day ago Big 4 all made the top 16.Reply to article

Kaine Adamson of Retail (WA) said 1 day ago 12th

There is a link to the full listing in the articleReply to article

Omar Haidar of Retail (VIC) said 1 day ago Well done to NAB. It's great to see our bank continuing to succeed above the rest. Well done to all NAB employees and should all be proud of our fantastic success.Reply to article

David Bernov of Retail (VIC) said 1 day ago I htink this is a great bit of news, Im in credit card retentions and something like this can really work in terms of customer confidence in our bank and ultimately our products as well. I think these sort of news must be publicised because it would certainly work very well with our existing customers and potential customers as well.Reply to article

Devi Khanna of Retail (VIC) said 1 day ago I am delighted to read that the NAB is 11th Safest Bank in the world and safest in Australia as well. Thanks to the Commanders, we rode on the right Ship.Reply to article

Steven Shi of Retail (VIC) said 1 day ago GOOD FOR NAB, WHAT'S CBA'S RANKING?