Marketing

ABN Amro to exit trade and commodity finance in shake-up


ABN Amro is to end all trade and commodity financing after a string of losses, in a massive overhaul of its activities that will mean the Dutch bank cuts 800 jobs.

Shares in ABN, which had lost almost half their value this year, were up 6.8 per cent earlier after it said its corporate bank will retreat to northwest Europe, exiting the United States, Asia, Australia and Brazil, except for clearing operations. “We are over-exposed to global sectors and we had more than our fair share of exceptional client files,” said chief executive Robert Swaak. ABN will focus on areas where it has significant scale, he added, including local energy markets, where the European Union’s “green deal” is expected to lead to huge demand for finance. The Dutch state still has a 56 per cent stake in the bank.

The restructuring will affect about 45 per cent of client loans, worth €18 billion and follows several failed attempts to increase the profitability of the corporate bank, which has grappled with losses in offshore energy markets.



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