Peter Paul de Vries, director of the VEB Dutch shareholder action group, says it is time ABN Amro is taken over in the wake of its costly Italian acquisition strategy. The Dutch central bank questioned the sense of a break-up, called for by UK hedge fund manager TCI - which welcomed the comments.

Nout Wellink, president of the Dutch central bank, on Saturday described breaking up ABN Amro as "a bridge too far".