Forex

BRUSSELS (Thomson Financial) - Dutch Central Bank DNB has approved the ABN Amro merger transition plan put forward in December by the by the Royal Bank of Scotland, Fortis and Banco Santander after the consortium took over the Dutch bank, financial daily De Tijd reports.

According to the paper, Fortis has so far only received oral confirmation from the bank, but expects to receive a written confirmation soon.

At the end of January, Fortis received approval from the Dutch Central Bank to go ahead with the demerger of ABN Amro NV's asset management arm, and said it sees the process being completed by the end of the first quarter.

Separately, Fortis Investments' chief executive Richard Wohanka said the group will shed 500 out of 2600 jobs as of the second quarter.