The Perfect Prey: The fall of ABN Amro, or: what went wrong in the banking industry

The perfect prey: the fall of ABN AMRO, or what went wrong in the banking industry, by Jeroen Smit, Amsterdam, Prometheus, , pp.
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Searching for an immediate profit, the victors dismantled ABN Amro - and Holland's number one bank ceased to exist. Shareholders and management enjoyed the spoils and the Netherlands lost the bank that had been at the heart of their economy for years. But the profits were an illusion - they simply weren't there.

One year later, RBS had been forced into the largest rights issue in British corporate history, underwritten by the Government. So why was ABN Amro so toxic?

EconPapers: The perfect prey: the fall of ABN AMRO, or what went wrong in the banking industry

On the basis of more than conversations with the most important individuals involved, Jeroen Smit reconstructs the downfall of a Dutch institution - a bank whose rotten core was so disguised by paper profits of billions every year. In little more than a decade, one of Europe's largest, longest established banks went from powerful predator to the perfect prey.

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Please try again later. I found this paperback and it read like a novel. The story was well told and compelling- the demise of a once prestigious global financial institution. A lot of the players are known to me from my tenure at the Bank in San Francisco and Boston in the 80's and 90's. Lex Kloosterman, my former boss, went on to Fortis and was instrumental in the tale and ultimate sale with Mr. Probably not a wide audience for this book.

I would recommend it as an allegory- too big yet failed. One person found this helpful.

The perfect prey: the fall of ABN AMRO, or what went wrong in the banking industry

Kindle Edition Verified Purchase. It helped me understand many things that happened when I was working for the dutch bank. After reading the book all makes more sense. I saw the continuous strategy changes. A few weeks later AAB was a wholesale bank. After that, Chile where I was located, became a non core country and in the branch was sold to RBS.

I am thankful with the management team in Chile, they made the journey less painful. Interesting book on the fall of ABN. It was apparent to many of us then that all was not going to be right in the kingdom.


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    8. The bank many of us knew in the late 's and shortly thereafter was working hard to become a global bank, and its worldwide staff was proud of the gains being made. We were a player others were beginning to watch. All the conversations I've had with my former Bank colleagues end up with us shaking our heads, somewhat surprised I guess at the difference leadership really does make in an organisation.

    But to be fair, it wasn't just one man's leadership that fell short, but as this book clearly shows, the collective poor leadership of many who had been entrusted to protect ABN AMRO's heritage and lead it into a successful future--those whose role it was to protect its shareholders, its customers, and its employees. Why were there, one constantly wonders, no whistle-blowers with enough volume to be heard? There were plenty of situations that merited a long hard blow: This book is "must reading" for any former ABN AMRO employee, as well as the many hundreds of consultants who wove their ways in and out of its history, for anyone sitting on--or considering sitting on--a board of a listed company, as well as regulators, politicians, shareholders, employees, journalists, lawyers, MBA students, new graduates entering the workforce It's right up there on my bookshelf holding its own next to the Enron story, The Smartest Guys in the Room.

    The Smartest Guys in the Room: I am interested to anything related to it. When I found this book, it immediately got my attention. Mr Jeroen Smit, the author of this book, is a well known journalist. His previous book, Het Drama Ahold, was well accepted by public. In this book Mr Smit takes us to a series of behind the scenes reconstruction from the period of to