RNS Number:6610O
National Australia Bank Ld
14 August 2003


Media Release

                           NATIONAL ANNOUNCES NEW UK

                       STRATEGIC LIFE INSURANCE ALLIANCE



London, 13 August 2003: The National Australia Group has delivered another key
aspect of its international growth program with the announcement of a new
strategic alliance for the National's UK Wealth Management division.

The agreement will see Legal & General (* see note below) life insurance offered
to the three million customers of the National's three UK banks, the Clydesdale,
Yorkshire and Northern Banks.

From September, Legal & General life assurance will be offered as a stand-alone
product and as part of its mortgage and critical illness protection range.  This
will replace the National's own products, which have been provided by its UK
subsidiary National Australia Life since 1995.

The agreement with Legal & General comes just months after the National
announced an alliance with Junction, a part of the UK's Budget Group of
Companies, to provide product and administration services for its home and motor
insurance operations.

Richard Hoskins, the National's UK Head of Insurance, said the Legal & General
agreement was a key part of the National's growth strategy, which has focused on
distribution and relationship management.

"The UK insurance industry is one of the most competitive and dynamic in the
world and the companies that succeed here are those that play to their
strengths.  We have enormous capabilities in customer relationship management
and distribution and have re-engineered our operations to focus on these areas.

"In the past year we launched an innovative home and motor offering, streamlined
administrative processes and systems and, now, we have created a powerful
alliance with one of the UK's most trusted and respected insurance companies to
build our life operations.

"This is a major step for WME and an exciting opportunity for the National to
grow our business.  The National's customer base in the UK is a significant
market for life insurance, mortgage and critical illness protection and we look
forward to being able to make the benefits of Legal & General products available
to them.  Our agreement with Legal & General aligns us with one of the UK's
strongest life insurance brands and enables us to offer our customers a flexible
and competitive suite of products backed up by superb customer service."

Kate Avery, Legal & General's Group Director, Retail Distribution said: "We are
delighted to have agreed this new alliance, particularly as the customer values
of both organisations are closely aligned.  Both Legal & General and the
National look to put the customer at the heart of business planning and aim to
deliver a range of value-for-money products backed by a high level of customer
service.  We are now very experienced in the delivery of this type of
bancassurance model through our existing alliances, and as a result we are
looking forward to a successful relationship as the preferred life assurance
provider for the National."



.../Cont'd over


2.







Further information:


In Australia:                                                In the UK:
Samantha Evans                                               Tim Pie
Corporate Affairs, National Wealth Management                Corporate Affairs, National Wealth Management
                                                             Europe
Tel: +61 2 9957 8731                                         Tel: +44 (0) 20 7710 2145
samantha_evans@wm.national.com.au                            tim.pie@eu.nabgroup.com
                                                             


About Wealth Management and MLC

A division of the National Group, Wealth Management manages and operates a
diverse portfolio of financial services businesses.  Through partnership with a
range of financial advisers, it provides quality financial planning services and
wealth creation (investments, financial planning, private banking), wealth
protection (insurance), and wealth succession (superannuation) solutions to
retail and corporate customers, as well as portfolio implementation systems and
business coaching services to financial advisers.  Wealth Management, which
includes MLC, is differentiated by its unique "manager of managers" investment
approach and multi-channel distribution and advice capabilities.  Wealth
Management has more than 2.8 million customers across Australia, Great Britain
and Ireland, Hong Kong, Thailand, Indonesia, and New Zealand, and manages more
than $64 billion on behalf of retail and corporate customers.



About Legal & General

Legal & General in the UK is not connected with the Australia-based business of
the same name.

Legal & General provides customers with the option to buy a range of financial
planning products and services through the distribution channels of their
choice. Legal & General's products are also available through the high street
outlets of business partners throughout the UK. These include estate agents,
mortgage advisers, insurance brokers and Barclays, Alliance & Leicester,
Northern Rock, Yorkshire Building Society and Scarborough Building Society.
Customers can also buy Legal & General's products from Independent Financial
Advisers (IFAs).  Legal & General was voted "Life Insurer of the Year" at the
British Insurance Awards in July 2003 for the fifth time in six years.


                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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