RNS Number:5601U
National Australia Bank Ld
23 January 2004

Attention ASX Company Announcements Platform
Lodgement of Open Briefing

National Australia Bank
500 Bourke Street
Melbourne, Victoria 3000

Date of lodgement: 23-Jan-2004

Title: Open Briefing. NAB. CEO on FX Option Trading Losses

Record of interview:

corporatefile.com.au

National Australia Bank Limited previously advised it was undertaking a
revaluation of the portfolio containing unauthorised
foreign currency options trading. You've already stated that the removal of
fictitious trades has resulted in a loss of $185 million.
What progress have you made in the revaluation and can you advise the extent of
any further losses?

CEO Frank Cicutto

We've significantly progressed the revaluation exercise, but it's not yet
completed. It's a complex process. We're determined to
take our time, not rush, get the answer right and have it reviewed by our
auditors. At this stage, we expect to announce the results
of our revaluation work next week.

corporatefile.com.au

Can you give some specific guidance on the likely outcome?

CEO Frank Cicutto

Earlier this week, the Chairman wrote to shareholders and cautioned them about
acting on ill-informed comment and speculation. I echo those words. Based on our
work to date, there is a very low probability that the total losses will be as
high as market speculation of A$600 million.

corporatefile.com.au

Why is the revaluation necessary? Isn't the portfolio revalued daily on market
prices?

CEO Frank Cicutto

Once we stripped out the fictitious trades we wanted to revalue the foreign
currency options portfolio to minimise our future risk.

corporatefile.com.au

How is it possible for fictitious trades to exist? Have dummy accounts been used
or are your internal systems inadequate?

CEO Frank Cicutto

The foreign currency option traders exploited weaknesses in our internal
procedures. We have identified those weaknesses and have closed them. We are
conducting, as you know, a comprehensive investigation into the matter and we'll
take any other actions that are necessary.

corporatefile.com.au

Can you explain the investigation process? Who is doing what?

CEO Frank Cicutto

There are several separate investigations including the National's own
investigation by its internal audit team. An independent review by
PricewaterhouseCoopers and external reviews by APRA and ASIC are also underway.
Furthermore, we've referred the matter to the Australian Federal Police and
they're investigating and will consider whether any criminal breaches have
occurred.

Through these reviews and investigations, I'm confident that no stone will be
left unturned and shareholders, customers and employees can have full confidence
that all necessary actions will be taken to ensure that unauthorised trading
does not happen again.

corporatefile.com.au

What procedural or management changes are likely from the investigation
currently underway?

CEO Frank Cicutto

I can assure you that the management team and the Board of Directors are
extremely disappointed by what's happened and will take whatever action is
necessary to ensure that everyone has full confidence in the National. There
will be full responsibility right up the chain of command for the breaches of
our internal procedures. Accountability will be assessed after all the internal
and external investigations have been completed towards the end of February.

corporatefile.com.au

To what extent has there been a cultural change within National since you became
CEO? Have you encouraged and rewarded a more aggressive approach to proprietary
trading activity?

CEO Frank Cicutto

The behavior that's been uncovered is totally unacceptable and is not and will
not be tolerated within the bank. It's not typical of the broader culture within
the National and as I said earlier, is not condoned.

It has not been our policy to encourage a more aggressive approach to
proprietary trading - nothing could be further from the truth.

Proprietary trading has a role to play. In recent years, the proportion of
revenue from proprietary trading activity has fallen as we've focused on
building customer related business.

corporatefile.com.au

Will your strategy for growing the National change as a result of the losses
from foreign currency options trading?

CEO Frank Cicutto

The unauthorised activity and the losses only affect a small part of our
business. We'll continue to grow our customer related business in line with our
organic strategy that we rolled out late last year under the banner "Growth
through excellent relationships". Also, our priority on building our existing
franchise in Europe remains unaffected.

corporatefile.com.au

Are you intending to close out all positions in relation to the problem
portfolio or will you trade it out in the normal course of business?

CEO Frank Cicutto

We have closed out some of our foreign currency options positions and the
remaining positions will be managed in a prudent and
conservative manner.

corporatefile.com.au

How extensive is National's activity in foreign currency options trading? Do you
have other teams active in foreign currency options trading?

CEO Frank Cicutto

All of this activity is centralised in one trading desk and it's a relatively
small part of our overall business within corporate and institutional banking.

corporatefile.com.au

What has been the historic contribution to profit from National's foreign
currency options trading activity and has it been a source of growth over 
recent years?

CEO Frank Cicutto

The activity has not made a significant contribution to revenue within corporate
and institutional banking. Its real value is in providing a full range of
products and services to customers.

corporatefile.com.au

To what extent will the losses from foreign currency options trading impact on
National's 2004 profit?

CEO Frank Cicutto

We expect to announce next week the full extent of the losses. There will be a
short-term impact on profit this year, however, this must be kept in a context
that the National produced a net profit before tax last year of A$5.6 billion.

I am very confident this incident will not adversely impact the ability of the
National to continue to grow.

corporatefile.com.au
Thank you Frank.



For more information on National Australia Bank visit www.nabgroup.com



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