ABN-AMRO: We are Sticking With Fortis

For a second it looked like ABN-Amro’s all-important diamond and jewelry lending division might have a new home, based on this Indian report, which was reprinted on Rapaport, that indicated the business was moving to the Royal Bank of Scotland. But an ABN-Amro source just told me this:

This is just a temporary situation. Until Fortis gets their Indian license, they cannot legally operate there. So we are going to operate under an agreement where Royal Bank of Scotland will temporarily take responsibility of that part of the business because they do have a license. But the same people are in place and the business still belongs to Fortis. It is almost like an outsourcing arrangement where RBS just manages the Indian part of the business. But the ultimate objective is to bring it all under the Fortis umbrella.