"Clydesdale has a smaller and stronger balance sheet following the transfer of the vast majority of its commercial real estate portfolio to National Australia Bank in October 2012, materially improving Clydesdale Bank's risk profile." The review of the bank last year resulted in NAB cutting staff numbers in the United Kingdom - where it has been dogged by a series of bad commercial loans made before the global financial crisis. In a trading update last Tuesday, the lender said bad and doubtful debts fell 10 per cent to $489 million in the latest quarter, led by better credit quality in Britain and its business banking division.