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To: KyrosL who wrote (51864)	7/28/2004 7:18:09 PM
From: Elroy Jetson	Respond to of 74559

I agree that National Australia Bank's problems are on the road to being cleared up. Keep in mind that a portion of the decline is due to a deliberate credit cut-back in the real estate sector with a resulting squeeze on mortgage margins. Just compare NAB with ANZ Bank (Australia New Zealand Banking Group) which has a comparable market position. finance.yahoo.com

To: KyrosL who wrote (51864)	8/1/2004 8:58:36 PM
From: Elroy Jetson	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 74559

Irish scandal renews pressure on National Australia Bank The Age (Melbourne) -- By Duncan Hughes -- August 2, 2004 theage.com.au (the cockroach theory - when you see one there's usually many more) National Australia Bank faces costs of about $109 million to atone for the massive scandal at its Irish subsidiary that could lead to criminal charges against several former top executives. The publication of a damning final report last week is also expected to renew speculation that NAB has cleared the way for an exit from the Irish market to focus on its troubled British operation. NAB, which faced a downgrade by Standard & Poor's from AA to AA-stable following the $360 million foreign exchange scandal, is believed to have spoken to at least one credit rating agency last week to discuss the implications of the National Irish Bank clean-up. It is believed the agencies are satisfied with the bank's provisions and have concluded that the scandal has no ratings implications. Australia's largest lender put out a statement following the Dublin release of Friday's report detailing the costs associated with the probe into its Irish bank and how much it has paid, or plans to pay, in remediation. NAB said it did not expect "any further material costs to result". The 400-page report into NIB by two Irish High Court inspectors found NIB set up bogus accounts in a tax evasion scam between 1989 and 1998 that involved the opening of "fictitious and incorrectly named accounts . . . to encourage the evasion of tax". It also found customers were charged "improper" interest and fees. The report criticised 19 former bank employees - including two former chief executives, Jim Lacey and Barry Seymour. The report stopped short of blaming individual branch managers and staff, who it described as being victims of a target-driven culture. None of the staff named in the High Court inspectors' report still work for the bank. NIB chief executive Don Price apologised to the bank's customers and said the bank "deeply regretted" the problems it had caused. "We have literally rebuilt the bank from the ground up," he said. "It is now a very different organisation." The report is likely to increase speculation about what NAB plans to do with its European operations, and whether it will consider a partial or total sell-off. Chief executive John Stewart last week said NAB wanted to remain in Europe and was preparing a major statement for next month. The bank will also be hoping that it can put behind it the fallout from several domestic and overseas crises - from the boardroom debacle in Australia to the 2001 $3 billion US Homeside mortgages write-off- while it rebuilds itself. The Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authority said it was considering what action to take.