Bank of America seeks to dismiss ABN AMRO lawsuit

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bank of America Corp. (BAC.N) said on Thursday it asked a Manhattan federal judge to dismiss its lawsuit against ABN AMRO Holding NV AAH.AS seeking to block the Dutch bank from trying to sell its LaSalle Bank unit to other buyers.

The second-largest U.S. bank had agreed in April to buy LaSalle for $21 billion. It filed the lawsuit on May 4 after a Dutch judge ruled that the sale required approval of ABN AMRO shareholders. But the Dutch Supreme Court on July 13 concluded that shareholder approval wasn't necessary.

Bank of America is seeking dismissal without prejudice because "there is no longer any legal impediment to close the LaSalle transaction," spokesman Christopher Feeney said.

LaSalle has about 411 branches, mostly in the Chicago area and in Michigan, and 1.4 million customers. Adding it would give Charlotte, North Carolina-based Bank of America more than 6,100 branches and push it to the 10 percent federal cap on deposits nationwide.

Barclays Plc (BARC.L) is vying with a group led by Royal Bank of Scotland Plc (RBS.L) to buy the rest of ABN AMRO.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel)