The Netherlands - banking industry: ABN Amro to slash below board level management from 100 to 40

ABN Amro is planning to reduce the number of senior managers from around 100 to just 40 and is shaking up its executive board to make the bank ‘more client-focused, agile and efficient’.

Among those leaving is Chris Vogelzang, who had been tipped to take over when Gerrit Zalm stood down as chief executive. The managerial jobs to go will run across the level below the executive committee.

The 40 jobs remaining ‘will have a stronger involvement in the strategic direction and the leadership of the bank than before,’ the bank said in a statement. The composition of the ‘top 40’ will be reviewed every year.

‘Over the past few years, the number of bank staff has been reduced considerably but there has been no change in the number of senior managers,’ chief executive Kees van Dijkhuizen said. T

he bank will also have a slimmed down executive board made up of CEO Van Dijkhuizen, chief risk officer Wietze Reehoorn and a new financial boss who has yet to be appointed.

Read more: ABN Amro to slash below board level management from 100 to 40 - DutchNews.nl

European Banking Industry: the Netherlands-Depositing cash into your account is not free at major Dutch banks

Paying cash into an ING bank account is to cost €5 a time - after six free deposits - the AD reports on Wednesday.
The bank, which has nine million current account holders, says it is introducing the charges because processing cash is expensive. Children and students will not have to pay a fee.
The Telegraaf says Rabobank has already introduced charges for cash deposits.
- See more at: http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2011/12/depositing_cash_money_no_longe.php#sthash.GGpzLPzc.dpuf

Paying cash into an ING bank account is to cost €5 a time - after six free deposits - the AD reports on Wednesday.
The bank, which has nine million current account holders, says it is introducing the charges because processing cash is expensive. Children and students will not have to pay a fee.
The Telegraaf says Rabobank has already introduced charges for cash deposits.
- See more at: http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2011/12/depositing_cash_money_no_longe.php#sthash.GGpzLPzc.dpuf

Paying cash into an ING bank account is to cost €5 a time - after six free deposits - the AD reports on Wednesday.
The bank, which has nine million current account holders, says it is introducing the charges because processing cash is expensive. Children and students will not have to pay a fee.
The Telegraaf says Rabobank has already introduced charges for cash deposits.
- See more at: http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2011/12/depositing_cash_money_no_longe.php#sthash.GGpzLPzc.dpuf

Depositing cash into their own  bank accounts is costing Dutch Citizens approximately €5 ($6.82) at a time - after they have done six free deposits -

Dutch banks says it had to introduce these charges and fees because "processing cash is expensive". Children and students, they say will not have to pay a fee.

As unbelievable as this may sound it is true and worse is that the Dutch center right coalition Government of Rutte and Samson has not taken any action against this disguised form of "robbery",

Cash still has a "dominant role" when it comes to small-value transactions. It also remains essential form of payment for lower-income consumers who may not have access to alternative payment options, and it is widely used for retail sector payments.

"Small folks" have made businesses, including banks, who they are, and many companies can collapse as a result of the same "little people" united strength. It's really sad that in 2014 - people still constantly need to fight for what is theirs instead of sharing what we have, so we all can gain.

EU-Digest

Abnormal high banking fees for simple money transfers still order of the day in Europe

It was reported to us that a client in Turkey of the Garanti Bankasi in Istanbul, who electronically (via the Internet) transferred euro780.00 to a client of ABN/AMRO in the Netherlands was charged euro 15.35 (35TL) for handling fees. On the receiving end the ABN/AMRO bank charged its client euro 30.00 for handling fees.

Bottom line: this basic, totally electronic ( no humans involved at the banks in question) transfer of euro 780,00 from Turkey to Holland cost a total of euro 45.35 in "handling fees". To make matters worse it took 3 working days for this money to be available to the client on the receiving end.

The question which no-one seems to be able (or willing) to answer is when will the EU or the EU Parliament and other governments initiate the proper legislation to control these excessive handling fees ?

EU-Digest

(reports from EU-Digest can be 
reproduced if EU-Digest is
shown as the source)

Today's Zaman: Turkey segment of Dutch ABN Amro sale completed

For the complete report from Today's Zaman click on this link

Turkey segment of ABN Amro sale completed

A consortium composed of the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), Belgian Fortis bank and Spanish Banco Santander had previously appealed to take over Dutch bank ABN Amro's six branches in Turkey, but the request was initially rejected by the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK) due to security concerns. According to the Sabah daily, 2008 yearend intelligence reports showed that Barclays had cancelled the PKK accounts, and the takeover was approved by the BDDK. During a recent visit to Turkey, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown was told by his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, that there were some banks transferring money to the PKK in Europe, and Brown responded that they had decided to ban such activities. The BDDK had previously rejected the handover of Turkish A Bank to Greek Alpha Bank due to similar security concerns.