The works council at nationalised bank Fortis Nederland has called on the government to merge its operations with the ABN Amro bank, which has also been nationalised, to create a ‘strong national banking and insurance company’.

The new bank should be called the Algemene Bank Nederland, the works council says in Monday’s Financieele Dagblad.
This would mean a ‘fresh start’ for the banks, works council chairman Tim op ten Noort tells the paper.
Finance minister Wouter Bos has pledged to announce his vision for the banks’ future at the end of November.