ABN Amro exits trade, commodity financing after losses, to cut 800 jobs

ABN Amro is to end all trade and commodity financing after a string of losses, in a massive overhaul of its activities that will see the Dutch bank cut 800 jobs.

Shares in ABN, which had lost almost half their value this year, were up 6.8 per cent at 0925 GMT after it said its corporate bank will retreat to northwest Europe, exiting the United States, Asia, Australia and Brazil, except for clearing operations.

“We are over-exposed to global sectors and we had more than our fair share of exceptional client files”, Robert Swaak, who became chief executive in April, told reporters on Wednesday.

ABN, in which the Dutch state still has a 56 per cent stake, will focus on areas where it has significant scale, he added, including local energy markets, where the European Union’s “green deal” is expected to lead to huge demand for finance.