Dutch prosecutors drop cases against former ING, ABN Amro executives

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) -Dutch prosecutors said on Wednesday they will not attempt to prosecute former executives of the Netherlands' two biggest banks following a lengthy investigation into whether they bore criminal responsibility for failures to stop customer money laundering.

In separate statements, prosecutors said they were ending their investigations. The decisions mean no charges will be brought against former ING CEO Ralph Hamers or former ABN Amro CEO Gerrit Zalm.

ING was fined 775 million euros for failure to stop money laundering on customer accounts in 2018, while ABN settled a similar probe for 480 million euros in 2021.

"The public prosecutor has come to the conclusion that there is insufficient legal and convincing evidence to pursue former ING manager Hamers for criminal acts that took place" at the bank, the prosecution statement said.

Dutch newspaper FD cited a personal spokesperson for Hamers, who also served as the CEO of UBS, as saying that he welcomed the decision.

Zalm, a former ABN Amro CEO as well as former Netherlands Finance Minister, could not be immediately reached for comment.

(Reporting by Toby SterlingEditing by Tomasz Janowski)