ABN Amro Picks New CEO to Confront Criminal Probe

(Bloomberg) -- ABN Amro Group NV appointed former PwC Netherlands chairman Robert Swaak as chief executive officer to help the Dutch bank navigate challenges from a criminal probe to a tax scandal.

Swaak -- who has also held a number of top roles at the consultancy and accounting firm -- takes over from Kees van Dijkhuizen, who will leave the CEO position at the state-controlled lender in April.

Swaak will be the third consecutive CEO who didn’t rise through ranks of ABN Amro after van Dijkhuizen and his predecessor, Gerrit Zalm, made their careers in the Dutch Finance Ministry. He takes on a lender seeking to free itself from state control while confronting an investigation over money laundering and trying to bolster its slumping stock.

The new CEO has a lot of experience advising organizations on know-your-customer and anti-money-laundering initiatives and that played a role in his appointment,” Chairman Tom de Swaan said in an interview. The bank “sees him foremost as a very strong thinker about development in the financial services industry.”

ABN Amro was up 2.1% to 16.90 euros in Amsterdam trading as of 11:10 a.m. The stock is down 21% in the last 12 months compared with a 6.7% gain for the Stoxx Europe 600 Banking Index.

Investigations Loom

In September, ABN Amro disclosed the criminal probe over alleged failures to comply with money laundering rules and said the timing and outcome of the investigation are uncertain.

Swaak served as chief financial officer, chief operating officer and management board chairman at PwC Netherlands. He has a master’s degree in corporate economics from Erasmus University Rotterdam and chairs the board of Bernard van Leer Foundation, which seeks to improve opportunities for underprivileged children, according to his LinkedIn profile.

What Bloomberg Intelligence Says

The appointment “looks like a sensible move, coming at a pivotal time for the bank.” Swaak brings a wealth of experience from both the financial sector and Dutch market.

Philip Richards, banking analyst

Click here to view the piece

Government Role

The new CEO will have to deal with a stalled plan to reduce the government’s majority stake in the lender to zero. The Dutch state, which owns 56% of ABN Amro after a bailout, last sold shares on the market in September 2017.

He will also need to consider ABN Amro’s prospects as an independent bank. While lending is stable and the bank pays a relatively high dividend, revenue growth has stalled in recent years. ABN Amro’s stock price is somewhat below its November 2015 IPO and sharply down from a peak at the end of 2017.

While Dutch rival ING Group NV is rapidly expanding its online retail business abroad, ABN Amro has been re-focusing on its homeland. Being a mid-sized lender in Europe with a low risk profile could make the bank an attractive take over target for larger rivals once it gets free of state ownership.

“I can imagine that for the general public it is a surprise choice. But in the financial community it is not,” De Swaan said. “Swaak is a very well-known figure in the financial services industry.”

The chairman, who described Swaak as a “leader who can build bridges” acknowledged the ongoing tensions between the Dutch banking industry and the public.

“Indeed, there is a tense relationship with politicians but that didn’t play a role,” he said. The sector’s relationship with politicians is not hunky dory and sunshine everyday. And the candidate is aware of that.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Ruben Munsterman in Amsterdam at rmunsterman1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Dale Crofts at dcrofts@bloomberg.net, Ross Larsen

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.