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Mr Varley and Mr Groenink said the newly merged bank will pursue growth opportunities in the US, but will concentrate on investment banking as opposed to retail and commercial banking, which LaSalle specialises in.

As part of its merger plan with ABN, Barclays announced today that it would cut 23,600 jobs in its ambition to become the world's fifth largest bank. It was also revealed this morning that Barclays and ABN have agreed a €200 million break fee.

The combination was agreed last night between the two banks and will be known as Barclays Plc with its headquarters in Amsterdam. Barclays is hoping to carve out €3.5 billion worth of cost savings by 2010.

Shares in ABN Amro edged up to €36.60 from Friday's closing price of €36.58, valuing the Dutch bank at €70 billion - ahead of Barclays' offer. Shares in Barclays fell by 1 per cent, or 8p, to 742p.

ABN will bear the brunt of the job losses, which include 12,800 cuts and an additional 10,800 jobs that will be staffed from cheaper offshore locations.

Barclays said this morning: "ABN Amro and Barclays are aware of the fact that these measures can have difficult consequences for a number of staff.

"When it comes to matters affecting our staff, both ABN Amro and Barclays have a good reputation and are committed to that reputation."

Mr Groenink declined to outline details of the job cuts but admitted: "A significant part will come from the Netherlands."

Keith Brookes, national official at Amicus, the trade union, said: "While we understand that there will be some 23,000 jobs lost over three years, we have been informed that many of these will be lost through natural staff turnover.

"Amicus is seeking assurances from Barclays that they will work with us to avoid any compulsory redundancies."

Barclays will dominate the key senior roles in the new company. Mr Varley will remain as chief executive when the merger completes in the fourth quarter of this year.

The UK bank's chairman, Marcus Agius, will be deputy chairman of the merged group but will take on the chairmanship of the new company when ABN Amro's Arthur Martinez retires in 2010.

Barclays' finance director, Chris Lucas, who has been with the bank for just 16 working days since joining at the beginning of this month, will oversee the finance department of the merged group.

Hugh Scott-Barrett, the chief financial officer at ABN Amro, will leave the bank after turning down an unspecified job in the new company.

Bob Diamond, head of Barclays Capital, the investment bank, has been appointed president.

The offer will be recommended to both banks' shareholders. If it is accepted, the merged bank will be dual-listed on the London Stock Exchange and Euronext.

One possibility raised this weekend would be for RBS to lead a bid, with Santander and Fortis providing financing. A spokeswoman at RBS said this morning: “We note the bid and are looking at it with interest. We can’t say anything beyond that at this stage,”

While the new company will be headquartered in the Netherlands, its chief regulator will be the Financial Services Authority, the UK City watchdog, and it will continue to be taxed as a UK entity.

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