ABN Amro is to hire an outside company to manage the computer applications and infrastructure at its wholesale bank in a bid to cut costs, according to a Bloomberg report.
The report says the bank is in the process of making the final selection, and that the contract would involve the transfer of about 1000 ABN Amro employees worldwide to the outsourcer, starting from January 2003. A decision is likely to be made in the next few weeks.
According to Hugh Scott-Barrett, the member of ABN Amro's management board responsible for corporate and investment banking, the contract is estimated to be worth between EUR1.5 billion and EUR2.5 billion over five or seven years, leading to "significant cost savings".