As the Dutch finance minister begins planning the reprivatisation of ABN Amro, rescued in 2008 by the country's government from the wreckage of its takeover by Fortis, his opposite number at the top of the bank will have a keen appreciation of the political pressures the minister is facing. Gerrit Zalm, who heads ABN Amro’s management board today, spent more than a decade as finance minister of the Netherlands until 2007. He recognises the conflicting messages facing his successor.
“Some investment bankers may say you should go as fast as possible, you will have a slightly lower stock price but you can then point to a beautiful rise after the listing. My answer is that I am also a former minister of finance and this argument does not impress me. The minister wants to recover as much public money as he can, and sometimes hurrying is not the best advice,” says Mr Zalm.