ABN fights back as investors revolt

Both camps in the battle for ABN Amro traded blows yesterday as the race to take control of the Dutch bank descended further into bitter arguments.

ABN itself issued written demands requesting that the Royal Bank of Scotland-led consortium seeking to buy the Dutch bank provide much more detail about the structure of its proposals.

Meanwhile, ABN also faced calls from a key investor for the resignation of its chairman Rijkman Groenink, and was hit with the threat of further legal action, this time in the US.

ABN has become increasingly angry about a perceived lack of information from the RBS consortium, which is trying to break up an agreed deal between the Dutch bank and Barclays.

Yesterday ABN wrote to the consortium, which also includes the Belgian bank Fortis and Banco Santander of Spain, with a series of questions about the financing of its proposals, its regulatory implications and the impact on employees and investors.

They included a demand for an explanation of how the consortium plans to fund its proposed €50bn (£34bn) bid - in particular whether the group intends to underwrite the whole bid, or whether its proposals are dependent on Santander and Fortis raising capital or selling off existing assets.

ABN's letter also requested more details of how a break-up of the group might result in capital gains tax bills for shareholders, particularly if international operations are sold to consortium members.

However, a spokesman for RBS denied that the consortium had been unhelpful to ABN. "In the event that a formal bid is made, we will of course provide full details of our funding," he said.

ABN itself received a letter from the hedge fund TCI yesterday, calling on the supervisory board of the bank to take control of the sale process. TCI, one of several high-profile hedge funds involved in the battle for ABN, said Mr Groenink should be removed from his position as chairman of the bank's managing board, because he had "no intention to negotiate in good faith with the [RBS] consortium".

ABN was also attacked by a group of its American shareholders who launched a class action against it in the New York State courts, alleging that the Dutch bank's directors have breached their fiduciary duties towards investors.

The lawsuit is based on similar terms to an action in the Dutch courts by the investor group VEB, which is due to be heard tomorrow. Both complainants say shareholders should have been consulted on ABN Amro's plan to sell its US operation LaSalle to Bank of America for $21bn (£10.5bn), a key part of the Barclays deal.

"The proposed sale is wrongful, unfair and harmful to ABN's public stockholders, and represents an effort by defendants to aggrandize their own financial position and interests at the expense of and to the detriment of ABN's public stockholders," the US lawsuit said.

A spokesman for ABN said: "We acknowledge receipt of the claim in the New York State court - we refute it and we intend to seek its dismissal."