State-owned bank ABN Amro is appealing against the takeover ban imposed on it by the European Commission, a spokesman has confirmed.

The appeal was lodged with the European Court of Justice two weeks ago. The ban on making new acquisitions is one of the conditions imposed on the bank by Brussels to win formal approval for the financial support given by the Dutch state.
But the bank wants the flexibility to hit the takeover trail. ‘It is a situation which requires flexibility. There is no question of takeovers at the moment, but that could happen in the future,’ the Volkskrant quotes a spokesman as saying.