The Dutch Authority of Financial Markets (AFM) directed on Monday that all information concerning the ABN Amro takeover be made public.
The watchdog of the Dutch financial industry said this is necessary to prevent possible fraud in the proposed takeover. From Monday, all parties are obligated to release any information that can no longer be considered as classified.
Following AFM’s announcement, ABN Amro and Belgian-Dutch bank Fortis, which wants to buy ABN Amro together with Royal Bank of Scotland and Santander, immediately disclosed new information.
Fortis produced nine pages of correspondence between ABN Amro and the banking consortium that warn about dual role played by ABN Amro bank advisers in the ongoing takeover and of the danger of ”substantial” job losses.
In a May 3 letter to ABN Amro, the consortium notes that a number of financial institutions approached the three banks to participate in a possible takeover.
”Several of these institutions currently serve as your advisers,” one of the documents published by Fortis said, identifying Lehman Brothers, Rothschild & Sons, UBS Limited and Morgan Stanley as being among the advisers in ABN Amro’s merger plans with the British Barclays bank.
In another letter dated May 5, the three banks say they also expect major losses among their own employees if the consortium can buy ABN Amro.
”The takeover will result in substantial job loss for all banks involved. The effects of the takeover are not limited to the employees of ABN Amro alone,” the consortium writes. However, ”overall job loss will not be more than in the other scenario”, it says, referring to the possible merger with Barclays and the sale of LaSalle to Bank of America.
An estimated 23 000 jobs, including at least 8 000 in The Netherlands, would be lost if the merger with Barclays took place. This excludes potential job loss at ABN Amro’s American subdivision LaSalle.
Meanwhile, on Monday, British-Dutch petrol company Shell announced ABN Amro board president Rijkman Groenink withdrew his candidacy for commissioner. Groenink told Shell he wants to focus completely on his work at ABN Amro, which Shell said it ”understood”.
Last week, the civil servants pension fund ABP — the biggest Dutch pension fund — criticised Groenink’s possible nomination as a commissioner for Shell, whose shareholders were to vote on the appointment on Tuesday.
In a related issue, 42% of Dutch entrepreneurs think Groenink should resign as ABN Amro board president, according to poll results released on Monday.
Intomart GfK polled 250 entrepreneurs for Dutch commercial radio station BNR Nieuwsradio on Monday, with the results showing the businessmen’s dissatisfaction with the current state of affairs at ABN Amro.
About 63% of entrepreneurs want the government to intervene more to keep Dutch companies like ABN in Dutch hands, the poll showed. — Sapa-dpa