ABN AMRO

Is ABN AMRO safe?

Yes, for ordinary savings, and much safer than its history suggests. ABN AMRO had a CET1 ratioCET1 ratioA bank's highest-quality capital (mainly shares and retained profits) as a share of its risk-weighted assets. Higher means more room to absorb losses.More in the glossary of 15.9% at 30 June 2026, 4.5 points above the level at which regulators would restrict its payouts, and a liquidity coverage ratioLiquidity coverage ratioA bank's cash and easy-to-sell assets compared with the money that could flow out in a 30-day crisis. It must be at least 100%.More in the glossary of 159%. Moody's rates its deposits Aa3. We score it 74/100, close to ING at 75 and below Rabobank at 82. The deductions come from the past: it was nationalised in 2008 and has twice been punished for weak anti-money-launderingAnti-money launderingThe rules and checks that stop criminals from moving illegal money through banks, payment firms and crypto exchanges.More in the glossary controls.

How the 2008 nationalisation happened

ABN AMRO was broken up in 2007 when a consortium of Royal Bank of Scotland, Fortis and Santander bought it. A year later Fortis collapsed. On 3 October 2008 the Dutch state paid €16.8 billion for Fortis's Dutch banking and insurance businesses, including Fortis's share of ABN AMRO. The state then merged the Dutch pieces into a new ABN AMRO Bank N.V.

The bank returned to the stock market in 2015. The state, through its holding company NLFI, has been selling since, and its stake was down to 20.5% in July 2026 after a fourth trading plan raised about €2.46 billion. A full state takeover is the most severe form of rescue, which is why stability history scores only 35, the main reason ABN AMRO sits below Rabobank, which needed no help.

Capital and funding today

Today's ABN AMRO is a mostly domestic bank: Dutch mortgages, Dutch businesses and private banking in northwest Europe. Customer deposits of €303 billion exceed its loans, and the bank says its liquidity would last more than six months in a moderate stress scenario without any rescue measures. Its acquisition of NIBC, completed on 1 August 2026, adds about €14.1 billion of mortgages and will push risk-weighted assets up, which will lower the capital ratio somewhat in the second half.

Which scheme covers your savings

Current and savings accounts at ABN AMRO Bank N.V. are covered by the Dutch deposit guarantee schemeDeposit insuranceA government-backed scheme that repays bank customers up to a set limit if their bank fails, such as the FDIC in the US or the FSCS in the UK.More in the glossary, run by De Nederlandsche Bank, up to €100,000 per person per bank. Joint accounts are split between holders. NIBC remains a separate bank for now, so a saver with money at both has two limits. The state's remaining shareholding is an investment, not a guarantee: it does not add protection above the scheme limit.

Money laundering and other fines

• April 2021: ABN AMRO accepted a €480 million settlement with the Dutch Public Prosecution Service, €300 million as a fine and €180 million in forfeited savings. Prosecutors found serious shortcomings from 2014 to 2020 in customer acceptance, transaction monitoring and closing the accounts of suspicious clients.
• 2021: it agreed to compensate customers whose revolving consumer credit interest had not followed market rates.
• Q2 2025: it paid two administrative fines totalling €29 million, one for breaking the Dutch bonus ban and one for incorrect tax filing.
• July 2026: DNB fined it €8.5 million for structural shortcomings in monitoring a part of its high-risk clients between September 2023 and September 2024. ABN AMRO accepted the fine.

The 2026 fine is small, but it shows that five years after the settlement, the anti-money-launderingAnti-money launderingThe rules and checks that stop criminals from moving illegal money through banks, payment firms and crypto exchanges.More in the glossary programme still had gaps. Conduct scores 58.

How to protect your money at ABN AMRO

1. Keep savings within €100,000 per person per bank. If you also save at NIBC, remember each bank has its own limit while they are separate.
2. Use the app to approve logins and payments, and never approve a request you did not start yourself. In May 2024 ransomware at AddComm, a supplier that posts documents and security tokens for the bank, exposed data of a limited group of clients; ABN AMRO said its own systems were not affected and wrote to the clients concerned. Leaked names and addresses make convincing scam calls easier.
3. Fraudsters often phone posing as the bank's fraud team and ask you to move money to a "safe account". ABN AMRO does not ask customers to do this; hang up and call the number on your card.
4. ABN AMRO shares and bonds are investments, not deposits, and are not covered by the guarantee.

How we scored it

Liquidity (86), capital (84) and deposit protectionDeposit insuranceA government-backed scheme that repays bank customers up to a set limit if their bank fails, such as the FDIC in the US or the FSCS in the UK.More in the glossary (84) are ABN AMRO's strongest factors. Stability history (35) is the weakest because of the 2008 nationalisation, followed by conduct (58). For a UK bank with a similar rescue history, see NatWest.