ABN Amro chief executive Gerrit Zalm agrees that the bank should be floated on the stock market rather than sold off, he told a television talk show on Wednesday evening.

‘That would prevent new dramas, such as dividing it up, merging it and cutting jobs,’ Zalm said. Zalm is currently integrating the activities of ABN Amro with Fortis Nederland.
Earlier this week, finance minister Jan Kees de Jager said it would be 2014 at the earliest before an ABN Amro IPO could take place.
The bank is now state-owned following its take-over by a consortium several years ago and the economic crisis.