The Royal Bank of Scotland-led group seeking to take control of ABN Amro has signalled its determination to press ahead with its €71bn ($96.6bn) break-up bid after increasing its stake in the Dutch bank to more than 3 per cent on the market.

The consortium Monday night announced that it had boosted its stake in ABN to 3.25 per cent between Friday, when the share price traded as low as €31.20, and Monday.