NETHERLANDS - Ed Nijpels, chairman of the €200bn civil service scheme ABP, has resigned following continuing criticism about his role on the supervisory board of the collapsed DSB bank.

Nijpels, who held the post for seven months, said his decision to step down is linked to the delay concerning investigations into his role at DSB, and the steady current of media interest in the work.

"The flow of, whether or not accurate, messages has increasingly hampered me adequately carrying out my job," he said in a letter to ABP's board.

"During the debate about fundamental decisions, following the reports of the advice committees Don, Frijns and Goudswaard as well as the political views on pension policy, the chairman must be able to play his role in full," stressed Nijpels.

"But this has been made almost impossible by the settlement of procedures around the DSB case, and the continuing publicity this is generating," he added.

According to Nijpels, the final report of the Scheltema Committee into DSB's collapse, which also looks into the performance of the bank's governors as well as the regulators DNB and AFM, will not be published before April. He then expects the subsequent debate in society to continue for several months.

Pieter Omtzigt, MP for the Christian Democrat Party CDA, praised Nijpels for his decision to step down.

"He understood that his credibility as ABP chair was seriously undermined after his role in the DSB failure," commented Omtzigt.

In its own statement, the ABP board said it regretted Nijpels' departure but also appreciated his assessment.

"Nijpels has shown himself to be a skilful and dedicated chairman", said the ABP board.

Kees de Lange, chairman of the pensioners' lobbying organisation NBP, which was been highly critical of Nijpels appointment, has welcomed his resignation.

"The appointment was a big mistake and was not the way to regain confidence in ABP," claimed De Lange, who also argued Nijpels lacked both knowledge of the pension sector as well as time for his chairmanship, "given his dozens of jobs on the side".

"This is the right moment to also replace controversial board members, like Harry Borghouts and Xander den Uyl, with experts on risk analysis," added De Lange.

If you have any comments you would like to add to this or any other story, contact Julie Henderson on + 44 (0)20 7261 4602 or email julie.henderson@ipe.com

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