Meanwhile, the RBS-led consortium of three banks - RBS, Belgian-Dutch groupFortis and Spain's Santander - are still considering their position, Fortis chairman Maurice Lippens said.
The RBS group wants to break up the lender into three parts, so that Belgian-Dutch bank Fortis would get ABN's Dutch operations, Spanish bank Banco Santander Central Hispano SA, acquires ABN's Brazilian and Italian arms, and RBS getting Chicago-based LaSalle.