ABN Amro Group NV Chairman Gerrit Zalm said an initial public offering may be possible by 2015, while the Dutch agency overseeing the bank said Europe’s central bank will need to finish stress-testing the industry first.
“Early 2015 could be a good moment” if the Dutch economy has recovered from its third recession in five years and bad-loan provisions ease, Zalm told lawmakers in The Hague today. “Should that not sufficiently be the case, nothing has been lost. We could postpone for six months or a year.”
The European Central Bank must complete its review of euro-area lenders before a decision is made on how to sell ABN Amro, Michael Enthoven, chairman of the government’s NL Financial Investments agency, also told lawmakers today. NLFI has said it considers an IPO the most likely privatization course, without excluding other options.
The Dutch government said in August that it plans to sell the bank, formed after the collapse of Fortis in 2008, in an IPO for as much as 15 billion euros ($20.7 billion), less than the 22 billion euros the nation invested. A review in a year should show whether ABN Amro is ready to be sold, Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem said at the time.
The ECB will go through the accounts of about 124 banks starting next month. Examiners will identify problematic loans, review banks’ balance sheets in early 2014 and then conduct stress tests before officially taking over as the banking regulator a year from now, the ECB said on Oct. 23.
Read more: ABN Amro Says Early 2015 IPO Possible If Dutch Economy Recovers - Businessweek
“Early 2015 could be a good moment” if the Dutch economy has recovered from its third recession in five years and bad-loan provisions ease, Zalm told lawmakers in The Hague today. “Should that not sufficiently be the case, nothing has been lost. We could postpone for six months or a year.”
The European Central Bank must complete its review of euro-area lenders before a decision is made on how to sell ABN Amro, Michael Enthoven, chairman of the government’s NL Financial Investments agency, also told lawmakers today. NLFI has said it considers an IPO the most likely privatization course, without excluding other options.
The Dutch government said in August that it plans to sell the bank, formed after the collapse of Fortis in 2008, in an IPO for as much as 15 billion euros ($20.7 billion), less than the 22 billion euros the nation invested. A review in a year should show whether ABN Amro is ready to be sold, Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem said at the time.
The ECB will go through the accounts of about 124 banks starting next month. Examiners will identify problematic loans, review banks’ balance sheets in early 2014 and then conduct stress tests before officially taking over as the banking regulator a year from now, the ECB said on Oct. 23.
Read more: ABN Amro Says Early 2015 IPO Possible If Dutch Economy Recovers - Businessweek
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