Rijkman Groenink Dutch banker Date of Birth: 25.08.1949 Country: Netherlands

Biography of Rijkman Groenink

Rijkman Willem Johan Groenink was born on August 25, 1949, in Den Helder, a city in the Netherlands. He studied law at Utrecht University and obtained a degree in business administration from Manchester Business School.

In 1974, Groenink began his career at Amsterdam-Rotterdam Bank, the predecessor of AMRO Bank, and quickly climbed the corporate ladder. In 1988, he became a member of the board of directors at AMRO. When AMRO merged with commercial bank Algemene Bank Nederland (ABN) in 1990, Groenink joined the management of the newly formed financial conglomerate, ABN AMRO. Within the board of directors, he was responsible for the Dutch division.

In May 2001, Groenink succeeded Jan Kalff as the chairman of the executive board. During his tenure, ABN AMRO became involved in a series of disputes with the United States. One scandalous episode lasted for about a month and revolved around ABN AMRO's subsidiary, LaSalle Bank, using its clients' funds for investing in its own capital without informing the depositors. Another episode resulted in ABN AMRO being fined $40 million by U.S. financial regulators for non-compliance with mortgage guarantee rules using government funds.

In 2007, ABN AMRO was sold to a consortium called RFS, consisting of three international banks. Groenink preferred a merger with Barclays, but the shareholder group was more interested in the consortium. As the CEO of ABN AMRO, Groenink accumulated a substantial portfolio in the bank through various stock option rewards and eventually sold his stake, earning around €23 million.

After this, Groenink became a prominent example of self-enrichment culture in the banking industry. Despite openly advocating for the merger with Barclays, he stepped down as the CEO. He received a compensation package for his resignation, amounting to €23 million, which he received over two years. However, there were speculations in the press that the €23 million was the "golden handshake," a compensation for losing his executive position.

In March 2007, Groenink received an offer to join the board of directors of Royal Dutch Shell, an oil and gas company, where he was supposed to replace Arnout Loden. However, public opinion urged him to focus on his work at ABN AMRO, especially in the midst of an intense bidding war between the consortium and Barclays. Many shareholders in both ABN AMRO and Shell opposed Groenink's appointment, and a day before the general annual meeting of Shell, he withdrew his candidacy.

After leaving the CEO position at ABN AMRO and not joining the board of directors at Royal Dutch Shell, Groenink's ranking in the Top 200 influential people of 2007 dropped to 29th place. In a later interview in March 2012, Groenink revealed that leaving his position resulted in a loss of over one million euros, which he had invested unsuccessfully. However, he also mentioned that there were profitable deals as well.

It is known that Groenink had an interest in investing private capital in green energy and sustainable energy development. Currently, the chairman of the executive board of ABN AMRO is Gerrit Zalm, a former Minister of Finance in the Netherlands.