The history of ABN Amro Bank dates back to the year 1924, when King Williem – I issued a Royal Decree declaring the establishment of the Nederlandsche Handel-Maatschappij (Netherlands Trading Society, NTS). The NTS had been established with an aim to promote the trade between the Netherlands and the Dutch East Indies.

On the 3rd of October, 1964, NTS merged with the Twentsche Bank, and the new name it was given was Algemene Bank Nederland (ABN Bank). Further, on the 22nd of September, 1991, ABN Bank merged with the Amro Bank in Amsterdam. Henceforth, the new entity came to be known as ABN AMRO Bank.

Recent Developments
In the month of October 2007, a consortium of RBS, Fortis and Santander acquired ABN AMRO which is termed as the biggest banking acquisition ever happened in the financial history of the world. Because of the worldwide financial crisis of the year 2008, the Dutch state decided to nationalize the Fortis stake in the ABN AMRO, and according to an announcement made by the state on the 3rd of October 2008, the Dutch state acquired Fortis Bank Nederland. This acquisition includes the stake of Fortis in ABN AMRO.

As of April 2009, the ABN AMRO is being owned by RFS Holdings B.V., which comprises of the Dutch state, Banco Satander and the Royal Band of Scotland Group (RBS). The financial crisis being faced by the bank led the RBS to announce its plans to fire over 9000 staff members of ABN AMRO. This announcement was made by the RBS on the 7th of April, 2009.

The total assets of the bank stood at 912 Billion Euro in June 2008, while it churned a profit of 10 Billion Euro in the year 2007. The working strength of the ABN AMRO Bank was 102,556 employees at the end of the year 2007.

Presence in India
The ABN AMRO Bank registers a comprehensive presence in India, with its offices located in all the prominent cities of the country. The Corporate and Institutional Banking and Private Banking services of the bank are managed by its office located at Nariman Point, Mumbai, while the Personal and Business Banking related matters are governed by its New Delhi office located at Barakhamba Road. The bank also offers specialized services to international diamond and jewellery merchants, and its Mumbai office serves as the regional office for catering to the needs of diamond and the jewellery merchants in the Indian Sub-continent.

The bank also provides a diverse range of high quality Portfolio Advisory Services along with a comprehensive transaction execution platform in India. ABN AMRO (India) has branches in many cities of India, such as Bangalore, Baroda, Chennai, Delhi, Gurgaon, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Noida, Pune and Surat.

Microfinance Program
The ABN AMRO Bank has also initiated its Microfinance program in India, which is the largest one among the same being offered by foreign banks in the country.

Under the program, the bank deploys intermediary agencies called microfinance institutions for delivering micro loans less than USD 200 to its target consumer group of poor women with rural background. Till the month of April 2009, more than 390,000 customers spanning across 16 states in India were receiving micro financing small loans through its 26 Micro Finance Insritutions.