Briefs: Switch strife for NAB, ANZ shuts branches, and more 08 March 2012 5:21PM Briefs, ANZ, Major Banks, NAB Clydesdale Bank ran into strife with the operation its scheme debit cards in the UK early this week, a problem connected to shifting to a new payments switch over the weekend. Clydesdale, an NAB subsidiary, transferred some payments' processing to First Data. ANZ said it will close four of its branches in Taiwan. All are located in Taipei. The bank will still have 14 branches and plans to open one more. ANZ separately announced it will open a rare branch in Malaysia, with the new branch based in Labuan in east Malaysia (that is, Borneo). Tax authorities in South Australia have agreed to the necessary administrative arrangements to waive stamp duty on mortgages transferred by banks to covered bond pools. The Australian Securitisation Forum notified banks of the decision in its newsletter yesterday. Queensland authorities have still to agree to the request, which would see loans financed through covered bond pools receive the same treatment as loans financed through other structured products.