Minister Bos: Make a sustainable bank of Fortis-ABN AMRO!
Together with our colleague organisations BankTrack; OxfamNovib; Tax Justice Nederland; Milieudefensie and the Vereniging van Beleggers voor Duurzame-Ontwikkeling Both ENDS wrote an open letter to Dutch Minister Bos. The daily newspaper `de Volkskrant', published a summary of this letter on December 19th (in Dutch):
Wouter Bos wil ABN Amro en Fortis Bank Nederland samenvoegen tot één bank die over enkele jaren met winst moet worden verkocht. Ex-minister Gerrit Zalm gaat de klus klaren. Maar is 'samenvoegen en verkopen' werkelijk de enige opdracht die Bos aan Zalm zou moeten meegeven? Wij denken van niet.
Zalm zou de Nederlandse ambitie een aantrekkelijke vestigingsplaats voor financiële instellingen te zijn, een grote dienst bewijzen door van de nieuwe bank een instelling te maken die innovatief is op het gebied van milieu en klimaat, sociale verantwoordelijkheid, ethisch handelen en openheid geeft over haar doen en laten. We hebben behoefte aan een bank die het oude motto van ABN Amro ('meer mogelijk maken') hernieuwd invulling geeft.
De timing is perfect: de beide banken hebben hun buitenlandse klanten moeten afstaan, aan RBS/Santander en BNP Paribas. De nieuwe combinatiebank is dus vooral een consumentenbank gericht op de Nederlandse markt. Zij begint met een schone lei.
Bos moet Zalm vragen een grote bank op te zetten met als missie 'het wereldwijd financieren van duurzame en eerlijke bedrijvigheid', die als voorbeeld kan gelden voor de gehele bankensector. Daarmee onderscheidt de bank zich in één klap van de concurrentie in Londen en Frankfurt.
Uiteraard zijn vervolgens concrete stappen nodig om deze maatschappelijke missie, vastgelegd in de statuten, in de praktijk te kunnen brengen. Dat kan bijvoorbeeld door krachtig ondersteunen van de Nederlandse offshore windindustrie. Ook zou de bank interne gedragscodes en een beloningsstructuur moeten krijgen die medewerkers stimuleert en uitdaagt om ethische en maatschappelijke argumenten te laten prevaleren boven kortetermijnwinsten. Dat de bonussen van Zalm louter aan financiële resultaten zijn gekoppeld is in dit opzicht een gemiste kans.
Niet alleen als tijdelijke eigenaar, maar ook als wetgever en toezichthouder kan de overheid deze ontwikkeling ondersteunen. Nu wereldwijd het besef groeit dat de banksector zich op een doodlopende weg bevindt, kan Nederland een andere richting wijzen. Bos heeft de kans om een duurzame topbank te creëren. Wij rekenen erop dat hij dit grote maatschappelijke rendement wilt nastreven.
Danielle Hirsch, Directeur Both ENDS, Johan Frijns, coördinator BankTrack, Farah Karimi, directeur OxfamNovib, Albert Hollander, voorzitter Tax Justice Nederland, Frank Kohler, directeur Milieudefensie, Giuseppe van der Helm, directeur Vereniging van Beleggers voor Duurzame Ontwikkeling.
Click on the following link to download the complete version of the letter: Open letter to Minister of Finance Bos
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