ABN AMRO clamps down on lending for new ships

One of shipping’s leading banks has imposed a “bias” against funding newbuilding projects in the hope of doing its part to check oversupply in key segments.

“ABN AMRO is focused on not financing, and therefore stimulating, newbuilding projects,” Francis Birkeland, the bank’s New York-based head of shipping for the Americas, told TradeWinds in an interview this week.

ABN AMRO began the crackdown a few months ago.

“We