Cabinet expected to decide ABN Amro's IPO fate tomorrow

The Netherlands Council of Ministers is expected to make a decision on whether or not to push forward with a sell-off of state-owned bank ABN Amro, sources inside parliament told newswire ANP. The government was supposed to make a decision about the sale two months ago, but it was sidetracked when the bank's executive board offered themselves a salary hike, causing a public uproar. After nationalizing ABN Amro for 16.8 billion euros at the height of the financial crisis in 2008, the government already made the initial decision in August 2013 to move forward with an initial public offering, putting the bank back on the stock market. Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem has stayed calm and confident about the IPO, as he has been saying all the way through the salary scandal that the first tranche of shares of ABN Amro would be sold before the end of this year, but affirming that there would be no green light for an IPO unless the bank regained the public's trust after the salary row. He told the RTL Z on Tuesday that the bank has taken good steps towards restoring peace and trust, especially after issuing an apology for the issue with their year-end report. Prime Minister Mark Rutte has also repeatedly said he wants to see an ABN Amro IPO by the end of the year. ABN Amro and ING are both believed to have lost customers over executive salary increases in March.