ABN AMRO to Halt all Finance for "High Risk" Diamond Industry

(IDEX Online) -  Dutch investment bank ABN AMRO is to withdraw entirely from the "high risk" diamond industry.

It single-handedly financed a third of the global diamond industry in the 1990s, but has been "de-risking" in recent years.

The bank announced this week that it is cutting 800 of the 2,500 jobs in its corporate activities and shutting the division that finances trade in diamonds and commodities.

It closed its Dubai office in 2018 and announced last August that it would also close its Hong Kong office, leaving only Antwerp for diamond financing.

ABN AMRO CEO Robert Swaak said the diamond industry had a "disproportionately high-risk profile" and the bank had "insufficient money", according to the Dutch newspaper Business Insider.

The closure of the bank's diamond division will take place over the next three or four years.

ABN AMRO has been embroiled in a number of controversies. In 2015 six employees in Dubai were fired for helping wealthy Indian customers conduct illicit transactions. 

It also faced criticism for weak controls to prevent possible trade in conflict diamonds.

In 2019 the bank capped lending at 65 per cent of a rough stone's value — down from 70 per cent - as it sought to protect itself from risk.