Algemene Bank Nederland
Logo used from 1964 to c. 1974, a combination of the two constituent banks' logos. NHM's anchor plus establishment date and the Twentsche Bank's prancing horse.
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| Industry | Financial Services |
|---|---|
| Fate | Merged with AMRO Bank |
| Successor | ABN AMRO |
| Founded | 1824 |
| Defunct | 1991 |
| Headquarters | Amsterdam, Netherlands |
| Products |
Commercial banking Investment banking Private banking Retail banking |
| Parent | ABN AMRO |
Algemene Bank Nederland (ABN) was a Dutch bank that became one of the main predecessors in ABN AMRO. It was created in 1964 when the Nederlandsche Handel-Maatschappij merged with De Twentsche Bank. In 1991 ABN Bank merged with AMRO Bank (Amsterdamsche Rotterdamsche Bank) to form ABN AMRO Bank.
Nederlandsche Handel-Maatschappij (Netherlands Trading Society) and Twentsche Bank (TB) merged to form ABN Bank on 4 June 1964. An important reason for the merger was the international trend towards concentration. Banks were obliged to scale up their operations. The extensive international network of NTS and the strong Dutch home base of TB, notably in stockbroking and foreign exchange dealing, complemented each other perfectly. Another reason for joining forces was the past involvement of the two banks in developing the textile industry in the Twente region of the Netherlands. NTS had been sharing the running expenses of TB’s branch in London (which opened in 1858) since 1953.
The December 1967 acquisition of the Hollandsche Bank-Unie (HBU) with its strong position in South America gave the international network a more balanced structure. The Dutch branch network of ABN Bank was expanded substantially from 1964 onwards in step with the growing significance of retail banking. The acquisition of Bank Mees & Hope in 1975 reflected ABN Bank’s diversification strategy since the chief strength of BMH was international commodity finance. After the take over BMH continued to operate independently under its own name. Kingma’s Bank of Leeuwarden, which BMH had acquired in 1971, was transferred to ABN Bank in early 1981 and continued its operations under the name of ABN/Kingma’s Bank. ABN Bank was also active in hire-purchase finance. In 1967 it acquired Industrieele Disconto Maatschappij, in which it already held a minority interest through TB.
The independent stockbroking subsidiary Nachenius, Tjeenk & Co, a 1991 amalgamation of two earlier (1977) acquisitions, Weduwe Tjeenk & Co (est. 1810) and Nachenius & Dudok van Heel (est. 1797), gave ABN Bank a foothold in the private banking market.
The bank also continued its international expansion and in September 1977 the three former Nederlandsche Handel-Maatschappij branches in Saudi Arabia were incorporated in a new bank, Albank Alsaudi Alhollandi in Riyadh. This bank steadily increased its number of branches and changed its name to Saudi Hollandi Bank in 1991.
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