ABN Amro Bank has promoted Ferdinand Vaandrager, its head of IR, to the position of interim CFO. The new role is effective from May 1 and subject to regulatory approval.
He will take over from Lars Kramer, ABN Amro’s CFO since 2021, who is leaving to take up the same position at First Abu Dhabi Bank.
Vaandrager has run the IR team at the $16 bn Dutch financial services firm for two and a half years. Before that, he worked in various commercial roles with a focus on corporate and institutional banking.
‘Ferdinand has been with ABN Amro for almost 15 years,’ says Robert Swaak, CEO of the bank, in the statement.
‘He is a unifying and energetic leader who has demonstrated a strong commitment to the strategy and financial performance of the bank in his current role as head of IR. Moreover, he has shown great talent in balancing the interests of all our primary stakeholder groups.’
Prior roles
While at ABN Amro, Vaandrager’s roles have included global head of financial market sales and head of equities. Earlier in his career, he served as head of Benelux equities at RBS and head of continental European equity sales at Citigroup.
Last week, ABN Amro’s shares rose to their highest level in three years following the announcement of a €500 mn ($532 mn) buy-back program.
A few days later, NFLI, the Dutch state entity that owns a major stake in the bank, announced it would lower its ownership to below 50 percent through the sale of depositary receipts.
Over recent years, a growing number of IR professionals have stepped up to take on the CFO or another C-suite role.