Barclays, ABN AMRO merger plan in 48 hrs

Barclays and ABN AMRO have given themselves 48 hours to agree to a merger after a rival consortium proposed a three-way break-up of the Dutch bank, reports CNBC-TV18.

The Royal Bank of Scotland is keen to talk with ABN about a plan to split the bank between the Royal Bank of Scotland, Spain's Santander and Belgo-Dutch banking and insurance group Fortis. Sources familiar with the matter say ABN will not open its books to the consortium until it has more details on their plans.