Belgian-Dutch banking and insurance group Fortis plans to fold its private banking division into its commercial banking business and scrap t...

Belgian-Dutch banking and insurance group Fortis plans to fold its private banking division into its commercial banking business and scrap the MeesPierson brand within two years. The move is part of a wider strategy to accelerate the bank’s growth in private and commercial banking throughout the European Union. “Commercial and private banking will become the ‘backbone’ of the pan-European expansion,” according to a recently released strategy document from the bank. The bank also plans to merge its private banking operations with its commercial banking business and asset management, with all three groups reporting their profits under the retail banking division. Specifics of the re-branding and the merger are so far vague, although Jean-Paul Votron, Fortis’ chief executive, said: “Combining our unique commercial banking business model with our state-of-the-art private banking activities allows us to become the leading, integrated solution provider for ‘Enterprise and the Entrepreneur’.” The move will effectively spell the end one of the oldest banking names in the Netherlands. Although MeesPierson only came together as a brand in 1975 with the merger of ABN and AMRO, the banking name Mees can trace its origins back to the 18th century and Pierson back to the 19th century. MeesPierson was acquired by Fortis in 1997. Fortis appears to be following the path of larger financial institutions such as HSBC and Citigroup, which have re-branded many of their separate brands in the last few years.