Etienne Bottari has secured his first public mergers and acquisitions advisory role for ABN Amro since joining last year, but it will do little to propel the bank up the M&A advisory league tables for the year.

ABN Amro has spent heavily on recruiting in corporate finance and coverage, but still currently ranks 21st by deal value, according to Dealogic league tables for announced deals involving a European target or bidder for the year to August 5. The latest win sees ABN Amro advising VNU, the Dutch media group, on its €195m ($170.8m) sale of Education Information Group to 3i, the global venture capital group.