ABN Amro bankers received bonuses without justification, fined 15 million
Supervisory authority De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) has imposed a fine of 15 million euros on ABN Amro for violating the bonus ban. For years, the bank has awarded and paid out bonuses to officials who should not have received them.
The bonus ban was introduced after the credit crisis and means that directors and officials directly below the board of directors of banks receiving state aid are not allowed to receive bonuses.
The bonus ban has applied to the board of directors of ABN Amro since 2012. Since 2015, the ban has also applied to the so-called second echelon, the bankers who work directly below the top.
DNB has determined that ABN Amro violated the ban by awarding and paying out bonuses to seven second-tier officials in the period from 2016 to 2024. This concerns awarded bonuses totaling more than 1.5 million euros.
Deliberate violationDNB holds ABN Amro heavily responsible for the fact that the bank 'deliberately allowed the violation of the bonus ban to continue for a long time and went against the explicit instructions' of the supervisor.
According to the supervisor, she pointed out to ABN Amro that awarding and paying out bonuses to second-tier officials is not permitted. After this, the bank initially stopped paying out the bonuses.
"However, at a later stage ABN Amro decided not only to resume paying out the bonuses, but also to award a new tranche of bonuses," DNB said.
Bank accepts fineABN Amro says the bank 'interpreted and applied the legislation in good faith', but later acknowledges that its view was incorrect. The bank therefore says it accepts the fine of millions.
ABN Amro had to be nationalized during the financial crisis of 2008. The bonus ban was intended to prevent state aid, or income earned from it, from being paid out in part to the top management of banks in the form of bonuses. Over the past ten years, the state gradually reduced its stake in ABN Amro. Last month, the state stake fell below 33 percent.
RTL Nieuws
