The Chairman of the Australian Bankers' Association has announced its chief executive will leave the group after six and a half years.

Andrew Thorburn, who is the National Australia Bank CEO and chairman of the bankers association, announced that Steven Muenchenberg will be stepping down as Chief Executive of the Australian Bankers' Association (ABA).

«Steven has led the ABA successfully for more than six and a half years, through some challenging times for the banking industry. He has now advised me that he would like to move on to the next opportunity in his career,» Thorburn said.

In the past year Australia's big four banks have frequently been in the headlines for all the wrong reasons, with accusations of interest rate rigging, and insurance scandals.