ABN AMRO Decides Not to Pursue Bid for Generale Bank.

THE NETHERLANDS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 9, 1998--The Managing Board of ABN AMRO (NYSE: AAN), a leading international banking group, today announced that it has withdrawn its intention, declared on May 26th, to pursue a bid for the share capital of Generale Bank in Belgium.

On Saturday morning, the Board of Directors of Generale Bank (comprising non-executive Managers and Executive Committee) declared that a majority views the ABN AMRO bid as hostile. ABN AMRO has always stated that it will not deviate from its policy of only entering into friendly takeovers. ABN AMRO is of the opinion that the arguments put forward by the Board of Directors of Generale Bank are unsound; it still considers its bid as friendly, given the Executive Committee's consent and wide support from all echelons of Generale Bank.

In spite of this, in evaluating the situation, ABN AMRO cannot elude the fact that this statement was made, particularly as the share capital was increased by 10% through a protective share issue based on this statement. This gave Fortis a decisive edge over ABN AMRO.

In making its decision, the Managing Board of ABN AMRO also weighed the fact that specific aspects of Belgian society clearly play a role in apparently denying shareholders a free, economic choice. In addition, the Belgian Banking and Finance Commission was unable to clarify the rules of the game despite being strongly urged to do so by ABN AMRO. These factors ruled out the creation of a level playing field.

In light of all these circumstances, ABN AMRO believes it would not be responsible to go ahead with its previously announced bid, let alone increase it.

ABN AMRO regrets that, due to these developments, Generale Bank will not have the opportunity to join forces with ABN AMRO to raise its operations to a European level.

ABN AMRO will proceed in implementing its European strategy. With its expanded network in the 15 countries of the European Union, the bank looks to the future with confidence. Within the confines of its strategic and financial objectives, the bank will continue to work towards creating a second home market position in Europe.

As announced on May 26th, the Managing Board of ABN AMRO reiterates the forecast that its net earnings per share over the first half of 1998 will significantly exceed last year's level.

Based in The Netherlands, ABN AMRO is a leading international bank group with over $410 billion in assets, active in 70 countries with 74,000 employees worldwide. ABN AMRO is the sixth largest bank in Europe and the largest foreign bank in the US, with The LaSalle Group and Standard Federal in the MidWest and European American Bank in New York accounting for some $100 billion in assets. ABN AMRO shares trade in the US on the NYSE in ADR form, and are listed on the principal stock exchanges in Europe. The ordinary shares may be accessed on the Reuter Equities 2000 Service under the symbol AAH.AS and on Quotron under the symbol AABN.EU. Additional information is available on ABN AMRO's home page: http://www.abnamro.com.

CONTACT: Frans Bedaux

ABN AMRO

Investor Relations 

011-31-20-628-4182

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Jules Prast

ABN AMRO

Media Relations

011-31-20-629-5523

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Jeff Zelkowitz

Taylor Rafferty Associates

212-889-4350