ABN Amro fined €15 million for paying bonuses while receiving State Aid
De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) has fined ABN Amro 15 million euros for violating the ban on bonuses imposed on the bank when it received state aid to survive the credit crisis. According to the regulator, the bank awarded bonuses to seven employees who should not have received them between 2016 and 2024.
In 2012, the government banned companies receiving state aid from awarding bonuses to the board of directors. In 2015, the ban was extended to the second echelon, certain top positions directly under the board of directors.
According to DNB, ABN Amro awarded bonuses to seven people in the second echelon, totaling over 1.5 million euros between 2016 and 2024. The bank also gave a very significant wage increase to one official for two consecutive years, bumping their salary by 11.4 percent and 28.8 percent, respectively. That was much more than the permitted collective bargaining salary increase of 1.5 percent and 2.5 percent, respectively.
“This violation damages society’s confidence in financial institutions, while banks fulfil an important social function for a well-functioning economy and society,” the regulator said. “Given this social role and the sensitivity of the subject of bonuses, DNB considers this a serious violation.”
