Two former ABN Amro executives are among a group of the Netherlands’ leading company bosses who are involved in breathing new life into the old Amsterdam merchant bank Oyens & Van Eeghen, the Financieele Dagblad reports on Tuesday.

Former ABN Amro executive Wilco Jiskoot and Jan Kalff are joined by former Goldman Sachs partner Wiet Pot and KPN CEO Ad Scheepbouwer in revitalising the bank, which has been dormant for some time. A number of the Netherlands’ most monied families are also investing in the project, the paper says.
The new-look Oyens & Van Eeghen will focus on asset management and corporate finance. The bank is currently owned by derivatives trader IMC, which will retain a minority stake. Oyens & Van Eeghen’s history goes back to 1797.
Jiskoot told the FD entrepreneurs are willing to invest in the bank because ‘there is a real need for an independent financial advisory firm’. Banks often do not give independent advice because they want to sell their clients other products as well, he said.
Kalff will chair the supervisory board which is also made up of Pot, Scheepbouwer, Jiskoot and Sake Wijma. The management board will be headed up by Pim Baljet, former CEO at Lombard Odier.