Almost nine months have passed since the Dutch financial group ABN Amro announced its intention to acquire the private bank Hauck Aufhäuser Lampe (HAL) and merge it with Bethmann Bank. The well-heeled clients have responded to the plans calmly or positively, say both institutions, and the performance over the past year has been good.

And even the lack of personnel details related to the merger plans at the press conference last summer does not appear to have caused any lasting damage. „Since then, HAL CEO Michael Bentlage and I have been talking to each other every week,“ Hans Hanegraaf, Head of ABN Amro Germany, says in an interview with Börsen-Zeitung.

However, he is unlikely to share many details with Bentlage before the planned closing in the second quarter, for regulatory and competition law reasons. Although the EU Commission, which is responsible for the competition situation, has already given the green light, the owner control procedure is still ongoing. In addition to ECB Banking Supervision, and the Dutch banking supervisory authority DNB, BaFin, which is responsible for Hauck Aufhäuser Lampe, must also approve the project.

„Bank mergers are lengthy,“ says Hanegraaf. „Our case is particularly complex because, in addition to the merger in Germany, the future organisation also has to fit into the cross-border structure of the ABN Amro Group.“

There is also a lot to do on the seller's side. This is because ABN Amro is only buying one of the units of Asset Servicing, which is based in Luxembourg. Hauck & Aufhäuser Fund Services (HAFS) and its subsidiaries Hauck & Aufhäuser Administration Services (HAAS) and HAL Fund Services Ireland (HALFI) will remain with the Chinese Fosun Group. The separation must be organised, and the supervisory authorities also have a say in this.

Once the purchase price of 672 million euros has been paid and the shares have been transferred, the work will only just be beginning, says Hanegraaf. Because then the business of the two institutions will have to be brought onto the same platform.

ABN Amro will spread the IT investments over more shoulders, which is part of the logic of the merger, since the need to invest more in IT is seen as the main driver of consolidation in private banking. Smaller providers are often no longer able to keep up, especially as the generation of heirs in particular has completely different expectations of digital offerings, and is therefore also being courted by technology-driven providers.

When it comes to the level of IT investment, the Dutch are tight-lipped. In this context, however, Hanegraaf refers to the acquisition of neobroker Bux, with which ABN Amro diversified its digital offering last year. „In the end, it's always about future-proofing our bank, for future generations, but also in competition with neobanks and neobrokers,“ says the banker.

The announcement of the takeover of Hauck Aufhäuser Lampe caused a stir last year. By combining the acquisition with the business of Bethmann Bank, ABN Amro will become the number three in German private banking. However, Hanegraaf emphasises that the transaction is by no means just about private banking. The merger will also give a further boost to corporate banking, which ABN Amro has expanded considerably since entering the market in 2017. The German corporate banking business, which started with a handful of advisors, had already leapt forward in 2022. This was after the merger of Bethmann Bank AG with the rest of the German business under company law. The enlarged balance sheet increased the scope for lending.

ABN Amro utilised this effect to create an additional earnings pillar with the Entrepreneur & Enterprise division. The new business area supports family businesses with an annual turnover of up to 250 million euros. The aim is to combine the needs of owners in private banking with smaller-scale corporate banking. This principle is also practised at Hauck Aufhäuser Lampe, says Hanegraaf: „Private banking at Bankhaus Lampe in Ostwestfalen in particular has always been driven by SMEs.“

The dovetailing pays off. While the margins in corporate banking are significantly higher, private banking can score points because it requires less equity capital. Nevertheless, the model harbours both opportunities and risks. Especially if you want to attract private banking customers for additional services from corporate banking. „If a loan cannot be approved, the disappointment is great, which can put a strain on the customer relationship,“ says Hanegraaf. This is why specialised teams of advisors are needed who can understand the customer both as a private individual and as an entrepreneur.

Today, ABN Amro is represented in German corporate banking with a 50-strong team. Frankfurt also has its own, albeit limited, credit mandate. „We coordinate large loans with our head office in Amsterdam, whereby the decision rarely takes longer than three days,“ says Hanegraaf. The Head of Germany at ABN Amro says that he often sits on the financial group's Credit Committee himself.

The Dutch company's business with corporate and institutional clients focuses on the areas of digitalisation, energy, mobility & logistics, financial institutions and the food industry. „The product spectrum ranges from loans and structured financing to transaction banking, capital market transactions and M&A advice,“ says Hanegraaf. Sustainability is an integral part of ABN Amro's strategy.