The company court in Amsterdam has rejected shareholder and union calls for an investigation into the behaviour of ABN Amro’s management board during last year’s takeover battle.

Investors lobby group VEB and the banking unions accuse directors of mismanagement by being too fixated on a takeover by Barclays and not being open to other offers. ABN Amro was eventually taken over by a consortium made up of Royal Bank of Scotland, Santander and Fortis.
Ruling in favour of the company, Judge Huub Willems said the decision to merge with Barclays ‘fitted in with company strategy’ and was ‘not without foundation’.