ABN Amro plans 2,800 cuts to investment banking and overseas divisions
Dutch lender ABN Amro plans to cut 2,800 jobs over the next four years, as it trims down its investment bank and rolls back international locations.
ABN Amro wants to save €700 million by 2024
The bank says it is aiming to cut costs by €700 million within four years. It also plans to shrink its workforce by 15%.
Earlier this year, ABN announced 800 job cuts in its corporate and institutional banking (CIB) division.
CEO, Robert Swaak, says the cuts to the CIB division is a “first step”.
The bank says it wants to focus on attractive segments in the Netherlands and Northwest Europe where it can grow profitably.
Costs are expected to increase to €5.3 billion in 2021 due to “regulatory levies, anti-money laundering costs, and strategic investments”.
ABN and its main Dutch rival, ING, were among the largest lenders to German payments group Wirecard, which collapsed in a fraud scandal in June.
In 2019 the bank was under investigation for AML failures stretching back “years”, according to Dutch prosecutors.
“We are building a future-proof bank by rigorously simplifying and centralising our operating model,” the bank writes in a statement.
It believes this centralisation will enable it to focus on clients and work more efficiently. The bank says around 90% of high-volume processes will be digitalised end-to-end by 2024.
It promises a further streamlining of its product portfolio by around 60% by 2024.
Shares in the bank fell by 6% in the wake of the news. ABN has experienced a decline of around 44% in the markets so far this year.
