NAB can draw on UK fund

NATIONAL Australia Bank is considering whether to participate in the British Government's 50 billion ($124 billion) financial support scheme. Britain's banking sector has come under extreme funding and capital pressures this year as worried investors dumped scrip in leading listed players such as HBOS and the Royal Bank of Scotland. In a drastic move on Wednesday, the British Finance Ministry announced plans to help recapitalise the country's listed banks. While the financial support is earmarked mainly for listed deposit takers in the British market, NAB's Clydesdale banking subsidiary would also be eligible for support. NAB's British operations, which also trade under the Yorkshire Bank moniker, withstood the brunt of the credit crisis better than its British rivals, according to financial disclosures for the six months to... [read full story]