A group led by Royal Bank of Scotland sees speculation it might lower its bid for Dutch bank ABN AMRO as very premature, Spanish agency Europa Press reported on Wednesday without citing sources.

Britain's Times newspaper reported on Tuesday that the consortium, which also includes Spain's Santander and Fortis, could invoke a material adverse change (MAC) clause to lower the price of its 71 billion euro ($96.45 billion) offer if market conditions worsen.

A Santander spokesman had no comment on the matter.

United kingdom Royal Bank of Scotland ABN Amro