On Monday, ABN Amro decided to adopt a neutral state in the bid battle for its takeover.

In a statement posted on the company’s website the managing and supervisory boards of the biggest Dutch bank announced ABN Amro said they would not support either of the two bids made by Britain-based Barclays Bank and the banking consortium led by the Royal Bank of Scotland.

"ABN AMRO will further engage with both parties with the aim of continuing to ensure a level playing field and minimizing any of the uncertainties currently associated with the offers with a view to optimizing the attractive alternatives available to ABN AMRO's shareholders," ABN said in a statement.

Barclays and the consortium of Royal Bank of Scotland, Fortis NV and Banco Santander have been battling for the takeover of the Netherlands' biggest bank for months.

In July, both parties improved their initial bids. Barclays raised its offer to 67.5 billion euros (93.36 billion dollars), some 24.8 billion euros of which would be paid in cash. The remaining 42.7 billion euros would be financed in shares.

Earlier the bank recommended the Barclays' offer over that of a European consortium led by Royal Bank of Scotland.

But now ABN Amro said the second Barclays' bid "introduced a significant cash element, together with a mix-and-match alternative. The value of this offer, however, remains highly dependent on the share price performance of Barclays."

"The boards are therefore, notwithstanding their support of the strategic benefits of the combination with Barclays, not currently in a position to recommend from a financial point of view the Barclays offer for acceptance to ABN AMRO shareholders," the bank explained.

Also on Monday, ABN Amro published its quarterly results. Net profit dropped by 7.1 per cent to 1.2 billion euros. Profit per share dropped by 6.2 per cent to 65 cents.