ABN Amro’s chief financial officer Hugh Scott-Barrett is to step down on August 1, the bank announced on Thursday morning. He will be succeeded by Huibert Boumeester.

‘Given the expected change in ownership of ABN Amro this is an opportune moment for me to look at my future and explore new opportunities,’ Hugh Scott-Barrett said in a statement. The move was logical, he said, because he had decided not to take up a position in the company after the proposed merger of Barclays and ABN Amro.
On Wednesday, ABN Amro said it is to appeal against the company court ruling ordering it to freeze the sale of LaSalle to Bank of America pending shareholder approval. ‘ABN Amro is of the view that it is in the interests of the company and its shareholders to launch such an appeal,’ the bank said in a statement on Wednesday evening.
Bank of America has said it will take ABN Amro to court if the $21bn deal does not go through.
The court ruling was the latest twist in the battle to take over ABN Amro. Two weeks ago Barclays agreed to buy the bank in an all-share offer. But a consortium led by Royal Bank of Scotland also plans to launch a cash and share takeover bid, on condition that the LaSalle sale does not go through.
Meanwhile, ABN Amro has taken out advertisements in the Dutch morning newspapers in the form of a letter to customers from ABN Amro Nederland chairman Jan Peter Schmittmann. The letter assures customers their accounts are safe and that they will be kept fully informed of developments.