National Australia Bank (NAB) is set for a £2bn-plus floatation of its British operations in 2015 as it prepares to exit the UK banking market after suffering heavy losses.

The move would result in the listing of Yorkshire and Clydesdale banks on the London Stock Exchange (LSE).

Macquarie, Credit Suisse and Bank of America Merrill Lynch are reportedly the favourites to scoop senior roles on the listing.

The bank has hired Morgan Stanley to lead the deal after Andrew Thorburn, chief executive confirmed plans for the exit.

Thorburn stressed that the UK exit plan was an absolute priority for the group after it posted a 1.1% fall in full-year profits to A$5.3bn.

Yorkshire and Clydesdale, with 2.7 million customers and 330 branches, have been compelled to write-off billions of pounds in bad debts and compensate customers mis-sold payment protection insurance and complex interest rate derivatives.

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The group’s 2014 full cash year earnings dropped to nearly 10% to $5.18bn, mainly owing to provisions for the mis-selling of useless or toxic products to households and small businesses in the UK.

The bank has already slashed 1,400 jobs as part of restructuring and quarantined troublesome commercial real estate loans worth £5.6bn.