British group Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), one of the top ten in the world in terms of financial power, could take over the Romanian operations of Dutch ABN Amro bank, which it acquired this autumn through a syndicate with Fortis and Santander, banking sources reveal.
Lately, British delegations have been inspecting the Bucharest branch of ABN Amro evaluating its operations.
Carolyn McAdam, head of RBS' communication department says that a consultation process will be held with the regulation authorities and with the employee organisations of ABN Amro branches, on a number of markets in Europe and Asia.
"The deal that involved the takeover of the ABN Amro group created a series of very attractive options to boost our retail operations on new markets in Europe and Asia," Carolyn McAdam stated.
Out of ABN Amro's branches in the region, the Romanian branch is the most developed, given that it has also tapped into the consumer market over the last two years, whilst remaining focused on corporate segments on other markets.
Early in October, the syndicate led by the Royal Bank of Scotland, received CNVM's approval to take over the controlling interests in ABN Amro Securities Romania, the specialist division that the Dutch re-established earlier this year.
The result of the evaluation of the bank branch remains to be seen. This would be the first time since 1990 when a major British bank has set foot in Romania.
Prior to the deal with ABN Amro, RBS had announced it had no interest whatsoever in establishing a local presence, although it had taken steps to notify the NBR with a view to providing financial services directly. RBS, however, has participated in a number of financing projects in Romania.
This summer, when the prospects of ABN Amro's takeover by the syndicate comprising RBS, Belgian-Dutch group Fortis and Spanish ba
