Abbey cleans out the cupboard

Abbey National’s investment portfolio is to undergo a radical reshaping as the UK bank’s new management attempts to clean up the group – with a view to a possible sale.

The move follows the final ousting of an old guard that had built Abbey National’s wholesale banking operation into a vast – at one point highly profitable – asset/liability management operation, with an investment book that peaked at over £100 billion.

In mid-July Alex Braun, head of funding and asset management at the Abbey National Treasury Services division, and Paul Caldwell, head of asset-backed securities, left the bank.