Banco Santander chairman Emilio Botin said on Monday that a Royal Bank of Scotland-led bid is on schedule and the hope is that the Dutch government will soon authorize it.

The mostly cash bid of RBS, Belgian-Dutch financial group Fortis and Spain's Santander, is currently worth about 70 billion euros ($97 billion), while Barclays' part cash, part share offer is worth about 58.5 billion euros.

ABN Amro Barclays