Bank takeover boost for Barclays

Barclays was given a fillip today in its fight to fend off a counterbid for ABN Amro when a senior Dutch legal officer said the sale of American bank LaSalle did not need to go to shareholder vote.

The verdict from advocate general Vino Timmerman comes ahead of a decision by the Dutch Supreme Court on whether to uphold an earlier ruling requiring shareholder approval for the £10.5bn (€15.6bn) LaSalle sale to Bank of America.