Amsterdam - Fortis will disappear as a brand name from the Netherlands, the chairman of the bank's board told Dutch BNR News Radio on Tuesday.

"We will have to let go of the brand name Fortis", Jan van Rutte told the broadcaster, noting the name now has a negative association, which might affect the bank adversely.

Van Rutte did not say whether Fortis will continue under the name of ABN Amro.

Two weeks ago the Dutch government nationalized Fortis Netherlands in a joint action with the Belgian government and French bank BNP Paribas in order to prevent Fortis' collapse.

More than half of Fortis Netherlands consists of ABN Amro holding it acquired in 2007. This has raised speculation that the Fortis brand name would be rolled into ABN Amro.

But Van Rutte says that Fortis and ABN Amro will only continue under a single name if the integration of ABN Amro and Fortis is successfully implemented. It is not certain that ABN Amro will be the new name, he added. (dpa)