(Australia) – Big 4 Australian bank – National Australia Bank (NAB) is rumoured to be about to run its ruler over UK bank Abbey National plc.NAB’s existing assets in the UK are the Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banks and the National Irish Bank and Northern Bank in Ireland. Abbey National is one of Britain’s top five banks but has experienced recent bad debt problems and reported three profit warnings over the last nine months.
Abbey is also establishing a small business development office in Sydney, focussing particularly on niche sectors where it has strength in the UK – power plants, transport, utilities and public-to-private transformations.