By Maarten van Tartwijk
AMSTERDAM--A former senior executive at Dutch bank ABN Amro
Group NV committed suicide after killing his wife and daughter in
their home, Dutch police said Monday.
The police said that Jan Peter Schmittmann, 57, killed his wife
Nelly, 57, and his youngest daughter, Babette, 22, and then took
his own life. A goodbye letter was found in the home, they
said.
The bodies of the family were found Saturday in their villa in
the village of Laren, around 20 miles southeast of Amsterdam. The
daughter was confirmed to be mentally disabled. The oldest
daughter, 25, wasn't home at the time, the police said.
The police said it wouldn't disclose more details about the
deaths or the contents of the suicide note.
"We are deeply shocked and dismayed by this incredible news,"
Mr. Schmittmann's family said in a statement. "We knew that Jan
Peter wrestled with severe depressions. That this eventually led to
these events is still incomprehensible."
Although not connected, the tragedy is the latest in a series of
suicides in the financial industry. In January, a senior executive
at Deutsche Bank AG, William Broeksmit, committed suicide as he was
dogged by concerns about a government investigation into the
bank.
And in 2009, another former senior executive of ABN Amro,
Huibert Boumeester, killed himself outside London.
Mr. Schmittmann had been a longtime executive at ABN Amro until
he was forced to resign in the wake of the bank's nationalization
in 2008. He was heavily criticized over the size of his severance
package, but signaled in recent interviews with Dutch media that
public outrage was calming.
ABN Amro was one of Europe's biggest banks with an empire
stretching from Europe to the U.S. to Brazil. In 2007, it was sold
and broken up by a group including Belgian-Dutch Fortis NV/SA, the
U.K.'s Royal Bank of Scotland PLC and Spain's Banco Santander.
Valued at roughly $100 billion, it was one of the biggest
corporate deals ever, but now widely seen as one of the worst. The
acquisition nearly brought down Fortis and RBS when the financial
crisis struck, with both needing government support.
Mr. Schmittmann, who joined ABN Amro in 1983, played an
important role in the aftermath of the acquisition. He led ABN
Amro's Dutch operations in the years before the takeover and stayed
in his job to oversee the merger with Fortis' Dutch assets.
His career in banking came to an end in 2009, when government
officials pressed for his resignation after the nationalization.
The size of his severance package--which totaled EUR8 million ($11
million)--made him the subject of public scorn.
He defended the payout by saying that the problems were caused
by Fortis, and not by ABN Amro, where he had spent most of his
career.
A Dutch court in 2009 ruled that the package was justified, as
it was less than half of the money to which Mr. Schmittmann was
contractually entitled. Mr. Schmittmann later described the
government's handling of the case as "distasteful."
After his departure, he joined an investment firm and held
supervisory roles with several small startup companies. He also
chaired a charity foundation of former Dutch tennis player and
Wimbledon champion, Richard Krajicek.
The deaths have sent a shock wave trough the relatively small
banking industry in the Netherlands, where Mr. Schmittmann was
still widely known.
"We are in shock. This is terrible," an ABN Amro spokesman said
about the events, hours before the police announcement was
released.
Write to Maarten van Tartwijk at maarten.vantartwijk@wsj.com
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