The Royal Bank of Scotland-led group seeking to take control of ABN Amro has signalled its determination to press ahead with its €71bn (£48bn) break-up bid after increasing its stake in the Dutch bank to more than 3 per cent on the market.

The consortium last night said it had boosted its stake to 3.25 per cent between Friday - when the share price traded as low as €31.20 - and yesterday. It said it had bought 40.76m ABN shares, which yesterday closed up 1.86 per cent at €34.48, at an average price of €33.81.