The documents, which the paper said it obtained through the Dutch Freedom of Information Act, showed representatives of BNP Paribas held talks with the ministry of finance to indicate their interest in ABN, the FD said.

They also showed that ABN Amro CEO Robert Swaak went to the ministry to talk about the French interest, the paper said.

The banks did not immediately respond to requests for comment late on Friday.

The documents confirm reports from June last year, in which sources with knowledge of the matter said that France's biggest lender had signalled an interest in taking over ABN Amro, a deal which the finance ministry was said not to be pursuing at that time.

ABN Amro was re-privatised in 2015, after a government bailout during the 2008 financial crisis.

The government still holds a 56% stake, but last month said it would sell part of its stake, reducing it to just under half.

(Reporting by Bart Meijer;Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)