ABN Amro sale still possible in 2015: Dijsselbloem

Despite an ongoing public discussion into controversial pay raises approved for the executive board at Dutch bank ABN Amro, Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem sees an IPO as a possibility at some point in 2015. Dijsselbloem was once enthusiastic of the government-run bank being spun off, but that sentiment was dampened once the pay raise was publicly announced. Before the controversy, Prime Minister Mark Rutte had said the IPO would take place this year. Rutte still thinks that is a possibility, with Dijsselbloem confirming, "we are still early in the year, I agree with that; in principle the aim is to do the IPO this year." "We first still need to have the parliamentary debate. If I say that, there is calm and trust that we can make the decision, but that needs to come first, and we are not there yet," he stated. He would only say "we'll see," when asked if there would be any clarity before summertime.