400 jobs and 40 bank branches in the balance

NATIONAL Australia Bank has informed the bank officials union, the IBOA, it will be January before any final decision is taken on the sale of Irish subsidiaries Northern Bank and National Irish Bank.

IBOA boss Larry Broderick said the union had been given assurances that no decisions on branch closures or job losses would be taken until after that date. The reassurances gave members “temporary respite”.

Up to 400 jobs and 40 branches are under threat if the banks are not sold on, reports said. Mr Broderick said it was essential for his members that the ownership issue be sorted out without undue delay.

Meanwhile, Rabobank may be emerging as the new contender to buy the Irish banks. It owns ACC bank and has an operation in the Irish Financial Services Centre.

While sources close to Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS) have made clear the bank’s interest in buying the National Australia Bank (NAB) operations, both parties have walked away from the talks.

HBOS has made it clear it will not deal unless NAB drops its asking price. Some believe the stand-off could now place Rabo as the most likely suitor.

The market is divided on the suggestion. In an Irish context its focus has always been on the agri sector and the bank has offered no tangible evidence of widening that brief any time soon, say sceptics.

NAB’s announcement that it has made no final decision on selling or retaining its Irish banks is seen as a sign from the troubled group that it’s keeping its options open.

The bank’s Scottish-born chief executive John Stuart has been emphatic that he will not sell below what he believes is its true market value.

He has made this very clear on several occasions and some say the odds on the banks staying in NAB’s ownership have shortened in recent weeks.

That then raises the question of serious job losses across NAB’s Irish banking network and significant branch closures.

Up to 40 branches are reported to be under threat, but NAB management said no decisions would be taken on job losses until the future of the Irish operations have been resolved.