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ABN Amro to reorganize
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January 18, 2000: 4:01 a.m. ET
Dutch bank to shut 150 branches, cut staff 10% in bid to streamline
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LONDON (CNNfn) - ABN Amro, the largest bank in the Netherlands, is to close one-sixth of its Dutch branches and cut its workforce by 2,500, or 10 percent, as it gears up for the electronic age, the bank revealed Tuesday.
ABN did not disclose the financial implications of its plans, which will be implemented over the next five years.
Many of the 150 branches slated for closure will be replaced by unmanned advice and sales centers, or technologically advanced automated teller machines (ATMs).
The bank has established a new European division to better reflect the increasingly pan-European nature of the banking market.
"The boom in electronic banking and the reduction in cash transactions - partly due to the introduction of the euro - are changing the role of the branch network," commented Rijkman Groenink, who heads the European division until he becomes chairman of the whole firm in May.
The bank promised to invest "considerably" in information and communications technology.
ABN Amro stock was unchanged at 22.43 euros in early Amsterdam trade Tuesday. 
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ABN Amro
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