Dutch finance minister Wouter Bos has told Barclays bank that he has no objections to the proposed takeover of ABN Amro by the British bank. Bos stressed that this does not imply his preference for Barclay’s bid for ABN Amro.

Barclays is embroiled in a battle to takeover the Dutch bank with a consortium led by the Royal Bank of Scotland. The consortium applied for a similar declaration a month later than Barclays.
The so-called ‘no objection declaration’ was granted to Barclays on Monday as expected and is based on the recommendation of the Dutch central bank.