Rabobank, the Dutch co-operative lender caught up in the Libor interest rate rigging scandal, said its chief executive, Piet Moerland, will leave the bank next year. Rabobank is cutting at least 3,000 jobs over the next two years, and the loss of its triple-A credit rating from Standard & Poor's in 2011 led to the sale of its fund manager, Robeco, as well as its private Swiss bank Sarasin.
The Netherlands' largest retail bank, hit by the economic downturn, has said it will focus once again on its core business, lending to Dutch farmerss and the agricultural sector "The Supervisory Board will now search for a suitable successor. Here we will proceed very carefully to consider both internal and external candidates," Wout Dekker, chairman of the Supervisory Board, said in a statement.
"Piet's decision to step down comes at an appropriate time. He will be 65 next year," Dekker said. Moerland did not have a set term as chief executive, a Rabobank spokesman said in an email to Reuters.