Dutch Cabinet defers ABN Amro listing over executive pay row

The Dutch government has delayed a decision on when to privatise lender ABN Amro Group over a dispute related to executive pay.

The move follows a decision by the bank's supervisory board to raise the base salaries of most managers.

Dutch finance minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem, on 27 March, said he was delaying the decision on the sale of ABN Amro after politicians questioned executive pay increases at the bank.

Dijsselbloem said in a statement that Parliament's finance committee was seeking information on salaries, reports said.

He added: "In light of this, I postpone the decision concerning the sale of ABN Amro."

Earlier in the week, Dijsselbloem called salary increases for some ABN Amro board members "reprehensible" amid protests from lawmakers.

The Dutch Cabinet had planned to take a decision on proceeding with a planned stock market listing of the banking group in the first-quarter.

In February, a Dutch state agency said it had selected 14 domestic and international banks as candidates to oversee the planned public share sale of the rescued banking group.

With an eventual sale, the government is looking to recover the Netherlands' €22bn (£16bn, $23.8bn) investment in the lender, after its nationalisation in 2008, during the financial crisis.