Clyne 'disappointed' with Moody's downgrade of NAB's British unit NAB chief executive Cameron Clyne says the credit rating downgrade of its British subsidiary Clydesdale Bank is "disappointing," citing better conditions in the business after a recent restructure. In a review released late last week in Britain, ratings agency Moody's said the Clydesdale bank "faces longer-term structural challenges from its weakened franchise and past risk-management/control weaknesses." Mr Clyne said in a statement that NAB continued to support Clydesdale, and the bank's performance was improving. "The downgrade of Clydesdale Bank's credit rating is disappointing given that the restructure of the UK operations announced in 2012 is driving significant improvements in the business and NAB's support for Clydesdale Bank is unchanged," he said in a statement on Monday. 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.