Deutsche Bank to cut 600 ex-ABN staff

Deutsche Bank is planning to delete 600 jobs in two consecutive dismissal rounds, mostly former ABN Amro staffers, according to the Financieele Dagblad (FD). It is the latest setback in a bumpy process that saw the German bank acquire several business units from the Dutch bank. The European Commission forced state-owned ABN Amro to sell off some aspects of its business after governments in the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg split up Fortis to save it from collapsing. The Dutch part was merged with ABN Amro. Deutsche Bank then paid 700 million euro to acquire thirteen offices focusing on small and mid-size businesses, a corporate office in Amsterdam and one in Eindhoven, the NRC reported in 2010. This included the Hollandsche Bank Unie, with Deutsche Bank taking on a total of 1,300 employees and 34,000 customers in the Netherlands. After talks with those individuals concerned as well as labor union administrators, the FD has learned that the Deutsche Bank has made €73 million available for the reorganization this year, including the layoffs. This move is a direct consequence of a disappointing take-over of parts of the business activities of ABN Amro in 2010.