Luxembourg-based General Court of the European Union has upheld the 2011 verdict of European Commission to prohibit Dutch bank ABN AMRO from making large takeovers.
ABN AMRO, which was bailed out of the Dutch government in 2008, had argued that the ban – which could prevent material acquisitions until 2016 – was "excessively wide."
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The appeal courts said he bank’s priority should be to repay aid it received from the government ahead of any acquisitions.
"Using state aid to finance acquisitions is in breach of the principle that government subsidies must be limited to the strict minimum," the court said in its verdict.
The EU restrictions didn’t stop the Dutch bank from agreeing to buy Credit Suisse’s German private-banking business.
Responding to the verdict, a spokesman for the bank said: "We are of course disappointed that the ruling of the court is not in our favor."
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By GlobalDataABN AMRO can appeal the decision at the EU’s top court within the next two months.
