Finance
ABN Amro Chief Swaak Embarks on Next Act After Steadying Lender
- Swaak cleaned up ABN Amro since taking over during pandemic
- As rivals eye growth again, his ambitions appear more modest
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Robert Swaak had a clear mission when he joined ABN Amro Bank NV in the midst of the Covid pandemic: clean up the bailed-out Dutch lender to help the state sell down its stake. His aspirations for the next chapter appear more modest.
As the 63 year-old embarks on his second term as chief executive officer, he’s eschewing the forays of his peers into new markets or popular products such as private credit. Delivering on a plan mapped out when rentrenchment was still the buzzword among Europe’s lenders, he’s buying back shares and investing in technology and capabilities to help companies make the transition to a low-carbon economy.