THE NETHERLANDS - Wiet Pot, board chairman of merchant bank Kempen & Co has stepped down with immediate effect, the bank's supervisory board has announced. He has been chairman at Kempen  since 2004.

In August, the bank had already made clear that Pot was to resign this year from the board of directors at Kempen.

The decision was required by the regulators De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) and the Financial Markets Authority (FMA). They had concluded that because of administrative and procedural breaches  in internal compliance policy, he couldn't stay on as a director.

"The agreement that has been concluded with Van Lanschot on the take-over of Kempen & Co in the meantime is the reason for Pot to step back," Kempen said in a statement. But Pot will stay with the bank for a number of months, it added.

The number of directors at Kempen will temporarily be decreased to two and there will be a reassignment of duties between them, the bank indicated.

Ieko Sevinga will act as stand in for Pot's duties and responsibilities. He has been a member of the executive team since 2001.

The make-up of  Kempen's directors within Van Lanschot will be announced during the first quarter of next year, Kempen said.

In September, Kempen appointed Jean Frijns, the former head of investments at ABP, as chairman of the supervisory board. He replaced Pieter Winsemius, who left to become planning and environment minister in the Dutch Government.

Frijns'  appointment was unrelated to the take-over of Kempen by Van Lanschot, a spokeswoman said then.

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