“After
months of pressuring Greek politicians, Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen
Dijsselbloem was under scrutiny himself Thursday over his handling of
state-owned lender ABN Amro Group NV. Dutch parliament is debating
the matter after lawmakers’ outrage at pay rises awarded to ABN
Amro executives forced the government to delay the bank’s initial
public offering. The bank’s management said Dijsselbloem had
promised to defend the increases.”
“The
finance minister has had to juggle questions about the control of
corruption risks at ABN Amro while leading euro-area negotiations
with Greece over its bailout program in his role as the Eurogroup
chairman. Lawmakers are concerned the state will lose billions of
euros from its 22 billion-euro ($24 billion) bailout of the lender on
the cusp of the financial crisis. Parliament was caught by surprise
last month when ABN Amro’s annual report revealed six board members
were paid an additional allowance of 100,000 euros in 2014. Several
lawmakers have said Dijsselbloem never informed them of the pay hike
and have criticized him for not taking into account the reaction of
Dutch voters. They were particularly outraged as the bank
simultaneously let workers go and froze salaries of other employees.”
“The
Dutch government was forced to nationalize parts of the bank after a
71.9 billion-euro takeover of the business by three lenders ended
with the company’s breakup. The IPO will probably be the biggest in
Dutch history when it occurs. Dijsselbloem introduced the European
Union’s toughest caps on bonuses in the Dutch financial industry in
2013. The law limiting bonuses at banks and insurers to 20 percent of
fixed salaries came into force last year. European Union rules ban
bonuses exceeding twice fixed pay.”
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The Dutch finance minister and
Eurogroup chairman, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, stated that Germany must
do more to enhance its competitiveness, mentioned reforms
implemented by Spain, Portugal and Ireland in recent years, adding
that Berlin would be well-advised not to rest on its laurels.
[...] The Dutch finance minister and Eurogroup chairman, Jeroen
Dijsselbloem, stated that Germany must do more to enhance its
competitiveness, mentioned reforms implemented by Spain, Portugal
and Ireland in recent years, adding that Berlin would be
well-advised not to rest on its laurels.
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