British hedge fund TCI is going too far in is demands that ABN Amro be split up, Nout Wellink, chairman of the Dutch central bank, said in the NRC Handelsblad on Saturday. TCI, which claims to have more than 1% of ABN Amro’s shares, sent a letter to the company last week outlining its demands.

‘TCI’s letter seems to say ‘decide what you are going to sell and give the money to us’,’ Wellink said. ‘That is a bridge too far for us.’

Never before has a hedge fund put a big bank under so much pressure, Wellink said. The move could have repercussions well beyond the Dutch border, he said. ‘It is of the utmost importance that we follow this scrupulously.’

A bank was more than an ordinary stock exchange listed company, he told the NRC. ‘A bank represents broader public interests.’

The Financial Times reported that Wellink met Rijkman Groenink, ABN’s chief executive, last Friday to discuss TCI’s letter. ABN has not yet formally responded to TCI, though it has indicated that 2007 would be the year in which it delivered on promises to shareholders.

ABN Amro is the latest Dutch company to be targeted by activist investors. Hedge funds are calling for engineering group Stork to break up and focus on aerospace. They also pressured supermarket group Ahold to put parts of its US business up for sale.