Central bank disagrees with commission on Icesave, ABN Amro

The central bank DNB does not share all the conclusions of the De Wit commission which investigated the causes of the credit crisis, the NRC reported on Tuesday.


The paper says central bank president Nout Wellink has written to finance minister Jan Kees de Jager outlining his objections.
In particular, Wellink disputes the commission’s conclusion that the central bank should have taken a tougher line towards Landsbanki, the Icelandic parent of internet savings back Icesave, which collapsed.
Wellink says this was not possible because the legal basis for a tougher approach is not there.
ABN Amro
The De Wit commission also criticised the bank for its role in approving the takeover of ABN Amro by a consortium of Royal Bank of Scotland, Fortis and Santander.
In particular, the central bank did not assess whether the financial markets were strong enough to absorb the takeover and break-up of the bank, the commission said.
This too is disputed by Wellink, the paper says.
The start of the financial crisis shortly after the takeover weakened RBS so much it had to be bailed out by the British taxpayer and is now largely in government hands. Most of ABN Amro’s Dutch operations have also been nationalised.

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