THE HAGUE, Wednesday - The Dutch government will see to it that ABN Amro finds a safe haven, said Finance inister Wouter Bos yesterday in the Lower House. He was reacting to banking and insurance group ING's decision not to acquire ABN Amro's Dutch activities from the troubled Fortis group.

ING says it investigated the option of the acquisition from close by and "carefully." The group added it operates with discipline when it comes to takeovers in the "present exceptional market conditions." ING decided to withdraw because it says it "ultimately owes responsibility only to its own shareholders."

After well-known news services had reported that ING would probably buy the Dutch banking arm of ABN Amro, ING's share price dropped to 14.34 euros, down 18.2 percent on Friday. Yesterday, investors initially seemed to react with relief that ING had decided against the acquisition; but its shares did not recover from the day-earlier loss, closing at 14.29 euros.

ING would have acquired such a dominant position in the Netherlands with ABN Amro that this would likely have forced divestment of activities. There would also have been much overlap in activities between the two, which had already sparked union resistance due to threatened big redundancies.

Belgian-Dutch group Fortis announced Sunday that it would sell ABN Amro's Dutch office network and Private Clients (the international arm for wealthy individuals). ING made an offer for both units on the same day, but this bid was seen by Fortis and the Belgian government as completely inadequate, say reliable sources. The amount ING bid is not known.

BNP Paribas of France had already dropped out earlier. Sources say the potential buyers still in the picture for ABN Amro are Deutsche Bank and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), but RBS CEO Fred Goodwin is said to have been put under restraint by his shareholders not to make any new takeovers.

Deutsche Bank has already bought 10 percent of ABN Amro, including Hollandse Bank Unie (HBU). A takeover of the other 90 percent would limit the problems of the split-up. But insiders say that the takeover if HBU has become uncertain. De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) was originally to have issued a statement of no objection on 3 October.

Management of ABN Amro Nederland attempted to reassure their clients about its financial position in a full-page advertisement in morning papers yesterday. In the ad, ABN Amro says that it is a bank "that generously complies with all the financial requirements that De Nederlandsche Bank makes."

Minister Bos made a statement in the Lower House yesterday. He said he and the Dutch central bank (DNB) were trying to find ABN Amro a partner which would be a group "within which its activities can be carried out reliably and in accordance with its crucial function for the Dutch financial system."