ABN — which employs about 500 people in New York — will file an application with US regulators as soon as it completes a peremptory process with local regulators in Europe and the Netherlands, two people familiar with the situation told the FT.
The bank’s desire to strengthen its US presence follows years of downsizing by other European banks that already have locally-licensed branches in the US. Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse are the two most prominent examples; both have made big cuts to their Wall Street investment banks and further cuts are expected in the proposed Deutsche-Commerzbank merger. The bank originally filed a licence application in the summer of 2017 and withdrew it in October 2018, a January 2019 bulletin from the Federal Reserve said.
ABN’s US business spans clearing, trade and commodity finance, natural resources, corporate finance, structured finance and global markets. It does not have, or intend to create, a retail banking offering, which will save it from some regulatory burdens.
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