ABN Amro appoints PwC’s Robert Swaak as new chief executive

ABN Amro has appointed Robert Swaak as its new chief executive following the decision by Kees van Dijkhuizen not to seek a second term in the job.

Swaak, 59, joins the bank from PwC, where he has been global relationship partner since 2017. He joined the accountancy group in 2006 and has held a variety of executive positions at PwC Netherlands, including CFO, COO, CHRO and chairman of the board of management

The appointment is still subject to regulatory approval.

Swaak will focus on further refining and implementing ABN Amro’s strategy, ‘with a view to building a future-proof bank with a feel for what’s going on in society and an eye and ear for clients, employees and investors’, the bank said in a statement.

High priority will also be given to the further implementation of improvement programmes relating to compliance and detecting financial crime, the bank said.

ABN Amro said in August at the presentation of its half-yearly figures that it had been ordered by the central bank to look again at all its retail clients as part of a tightening up of compliance procedures.

And in September, the Dutch public prosecution department launched a criminal investigation into possible money laundering at ABN Amro.

Last year ING was fined €775m for being lax in its approach to money laundering.