ABN Amro supervisory board member named in Panama Papers

Bert Meerstadt, a member of ABN Amro's supervisory board, is mentioned in the Panama Papers - 11.5 million documents, spreadsheets, emails and other files leaked from Panamanian legal consultancy Mossack Fonseca that form the basis of a worldwide investigation into tax evasion.

According to Trouw, one of two Dutch newspapers taking part in the investigation, Meerstadt is listed as the first shareholder of Virgin Islands company Morclan Corporation. The company was founded by Mossack Fonseca in 2001. It was established to manage investments, stocks and bonds. Two weeks after the company was founded, Meerstadt no longer appears in the company documents. It seems a trust office took over his duties and his name was hidden, according to Trouw. In response to questions from the newspaper, Meerstadt claims to have no knowledge of Morclan Corporation. Even after studying the documents mentioning him, he can not explain why he is listed as a shareholder for the company. Meerstadt was appointed to ABN Amro's supervisory board in 2010. Before that he was president of Dutch railway NS.