ABN Amro’s board members are set to receive a substantial pay rise if Barclays beats the Royal Bank of Scotland-led (RBS) consortium in the battle for the Dutch bank.

A filing by Barclays to the Securities and Exchange Commission in the United States revealed that Arthur Martinez, the ABN supervisory board chairman, would see his pay leap from €113,000 (£76,000) a year to as much as £750,000 should he become chairman of the enlarged group.

Marcus Agius, Barclays’ present chairman, earned £750,000 last year. Sir Tom McKillop, the chairman of RBS since April 2006, received a basic salary of £471,000.

Huibert Boumeester, ABN’s finance director, would be paid £600,000 a year should he become chief administrative officer at the new company, up from about £444,000 at ABN. Mr Boumeester would also be eligible for a maximum bonus of £1.5 million next year. At the least he would receive £600,000 in bonuses, on top of benefits including a company car and medical insurance. Six ABN supervisory board members are expected to join Barclays’ board if the bank wins control of ABN. Their pay would jump from between €40,000 and €70,000 a year to between £76,000 and £200,000.

Sir Fred Goodwin, the RBS chief executive, who hopes that the consortium’s €71.1 billion bid will trump the €67.5 billion Barclays offer, said yesterday: “We would not be in favour of personal, financial inducements to gain support.”

However, sources said that Mr Martinez, who effectively held a nonexecutive position at ABN, deserved to be remunerated fairly for the more onerous work that he would undertake. In any case, pay levels have not yet been set by Barclays’ remuneration committee, the sources said.

They pointed out that RBS’s higher cash offer would give ABN’s board members a more immediate financial boost, based on their share options in the Dutch bank, than the salaries on the table at Barclays.

On Monday, ABN’s board withdrew its formal recommendation for the Barclays bid, with Rijkman Groenink, the chief executive, admitting that it would “look a bit silly” to continue to recommend a bid that was lower than the consortium’s offer.

Nevertheless, Mr Groenink has made clear that he prefers a deal with Barclays to a sale to the consortium, which would involve the Dutch group being split into three pieces. Mr Groenink hopes that Barclays shareholders will push up its share price, closing the gap between the two bids. Although the bank’s share price has fallen since it announced its offer, there is a chance that it could pick up by the time that ABN investors vote on the competing bids in September.

Fortis, the Belgian bank that is one of the three companies within the consortium, must obtain shareholder approval for a €13 billion rights issue in order to fund its share of the deal. With a falling share price and rumours that its stock is being snapped up hedge funds and Chinese investors keen to block the deal with ABN, it is expected to be a narrow vote.

Countdown to bid

March 20
ABN and Barclays say that they are in exclusive talks

April 13
ABN receives unsolicited letter from a consortium of banks led by RBS inviting it to exploratory acquisition talks

April 25
RBS consortium offers $39 a share for ABN

May 3
A Dutch Superior Court blocks sale of LaSalle, ABN’s US division, to Bank of America

July 13
Dutch Supreme Court overrules Superior Court decision, allowing LaSalle sale to proceed

July 16
RBS says that it will rebid at $38.40, despite losing LaSalle

July 30
ABN withdraws recommendation of Barclays’ €67.5 billion (£92.2 billion) bid, but does not endorse RBS offer

August 6
Deadline for Barclays to trump the RBS offer

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