ABN AMRO Bank has announced its legal merger with
Fortis Bank Nederland to form a single entity under the name ABN AMRO Bank.

The merger entails that the two banks can now make accelerated progress in integrating their activities. As a result, the Fortis Bank Nederland name will disappear. All the branches and subsidiaries of Fortis will also become branches and subsidiaries of ABN.

"From 1 July the legal merger will be a reality. This marks a special milestone for our new bank. We have managed to turn the two banks into a single business in a very short time," said Gerrit Zalm, the chairman of ABN AMRO Bank, in a statement.

The new bank has 6.8 million clients, 30,000 staff, 500 branches in the Netherlands, 78 commercial client branches, 68 private banking units and a wide international network in 27 countries.