Recently, Mary Pieterse-Bloem, Professor of Financial Markets at Erasmus School of Economics, was a guest on BNR Beleggerspanel to give her views on the news that the Dutch state wants to get rid of its majority stake in ABN Amro. The Dutch state has said it wants to reduce its stake in the bank to 49.9%.
The main reason for the desire to get rid of the majority stake is that the government was not set up to run a bank, Pieterse-Bloem said. In 2008, the Dutch state entered the bank to shore up its financial stability. Recently, the pressure was mounting to give up the majority stake in ABN Amro again. Together with a rising share price, it was decided to gradually part with some of the shares, the Professor said.
Moreover, Pieterse-Bloem addressed the rumours of a possible takeover of ABN Amro. There are, however, many cultural differences between Dutch banks, so the Professor considers it unlikely that ABN Amro will be taken over by another Dutch bank. However, there would be a chance of a European agenda for a so-called ‘cross-border consolidation’ within Europe, Pieterse-Bloem added.
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You can listen to the full broadcast from BNR Beleggerspanel, 14 January 2023, here.