De Nederlandsche Bank announced on 19 June 2025 that it had fined ABN AMRO Bank N.V. €15 million after determining that the Dutch lender had violated the statutory bonus ban applicable to its senior officials. DNB imposed the fine on 10 June 2025 under the Dutch statutory bonus ban; the decision is not yet final, as ABN AMRO can lodge an objection.
The violation relates to bonuses paid to officials in seven second-tier management positions between 2016 and 2024, covering a period of eight years. Total prohibited bonus payments across those positions exceeded €1.5 million.
THE DUTCH BONUS BAN AND ITS SCOPE
The Netherlands introduced a statutory bonus ban for state-aided financial institutions in 2012, applying it to ABN AMRO's Executive Board, and extended it to second-tier management in 2015. The ban, which applies to board members and senior managers of financial institutions that have received state support, prohibits the award of any bonuses. Dutch law applies a stricter standard than the European Union-wide bonus cap.
The DNB found that ABN AMRO paid bonuses that were prohibited under this framework to officials in seven positions within the bank's second-tier management structure. Second-tier management typically refers to executives one level below the management board, covering senior leaders of business lines, regions, and major functions.
The violation also included fixed salary increases awarded to one official that exceeded permissible levels. That individual received fixed pay increases of 11.4% and 28.8% in two consecutive years. By contrast, the permissible collective wage increases applicable under the relevant framework in those periods were 1.5% and 2.5% respectively.
BACKGROUND
ABN AMRO's operations span retail banking, private banking, and corporate finance. The bank returned to the stock market in 2015 following a post-crisis period of full state ownership.