Dutch finance ministry says it cannot comment on reported BNP interest in ABN Amro

The Dutch finance ministry said on Friday it could not comment on a Bloomberg report that said French lender BNP Paribas had expressed interest in buying Dutch bank ABN Amro. "The Ministry of Finance cannot make any public announcement about the specific considerations about the sale of shareholding in ABN Amro," it said in a statement.

"For as long as the Ministry has been holding a stake in ABN Amro, it has talks with various stakeholders on a regular basis about a broad range of topics related to this shareholding." Spokespersons for the two lenders also declined to comment on what it called "market rumours."