Statements by National Australia Bank's directors that they "regularly monitored" the performance of senior executives against "customer outcomes" throughout 2017 are likely to attract granular scrutiny at the annual meeting of shareholders in December.NAB chairman Ken Henry yesterday announced details of a revised remuneration framework for the bank's executives, including provisions that allow the board to claw back bonuses previously awarded to senior managers.In an apparent move to defuse public outrage over the behaviour of senior officers of the bank in relation to the 'fees for no services' scandal and other reputational disasters flowing from the Hayne royal commission, Henry yesterday said the new controls on executive pay would be applied in the current financial year.The retrospective application of the new pay rules almost guarantees a wipe-out this year of performance bonuses to departing members of the senior management team and the continuing chief executive, Andrew Thorburn.However, it is not likely to impact close to A$1 million in short term incentives handed last year to outgoing executive Andrew Hagger, assessed by the board at the time as warranting the performance pay even as the bank was delaying compensation to customers it ripped off.Henry did not address this awkward issue yesterday, pointing only to better future outcomes on executive remuneration.He did appear to concede, however, that the bank's executive pay arrangements in 2017 had not delivered sustainable performance for shareholders."The NAB board is determined to drive customer focus at every level of the organisation," he said in a filing to the ASX."This lens needs to be considered alongside financial metrics when assessing executive performance if we are to deliver long-term, sustainable performance for shareholders."The new framework provides the right tools to assure performance."Throughout his tenure as chairman, Henry has consistently tried to persuade shareholders that he and his board's remuneration committee have vigilantly measured senior executive bonuses against outcomes they delivered to customers.Given evidence presented to the Hayne royal commission exposing the bank's active efforts to delay compensation for thousands of wealth management customers who had funds skimmed from their accounts, a gaping disconnect has emerged between directors' statements in last year's annual report and the actual performance of senior executives. In a letter to shareholders contained in the annual report, the chair of NAB's remuneration committee Anne Loveridge asserted that directors sitting on her committee actively monitored the performance of senior executives throughout 2017."These executives are responsible for setting the culture for the organisation and are expected to live and demonstrate NAB's values," Loveridge told NAB shareholders in the letter. "In a challenging, highly competitive and politicised environment with increasing regulatory requirements, the leadership team has advanced NAB's strategic agenda during 2017." Loveridge's thorough monitoring of executive performance resulted in the awarding of 90 per cent of the short-term incentives on offer to senior managers.The assessment of the remuneration committee was that executives either performed well or exceeded their performance targets. That the bank was stalling on the return of funds inappropriately taken from wealth management customers appears to have