The Perfect Prey: The fall of ABN Amro
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle .
Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||
 Trade In this Item for up to £1.70
Get an extra £5 when you trade in books worth £10 or more until June 30, 2012. Trade in The Perfect Prey: The fall of ABN Amro, or: what went wrong in the banking industry for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £1.70, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Find more products eligible for trade-in.
|
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
On 9 October 2007, the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) celebrated its leading role in the biggest deal in banking history, a record 71 billion euros for Dutch bank ABN Amro. 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 183 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? On the basis of more than 120 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.
From the Back Cover
In 2007 the Royal Bank of Scotland announced the biggest deal in banking history: a record 71 billion euros for the takeover of ABN Amro. For almost two centuries the bank had been at the heart of the Dutch nation's economy, but in one fell swoop it ceased to exist. The victors triumphantly dismantled the institution and sold off its various businesses. But the profits were an illusion - they simply weren't there. One year later RBS was forced to request the largest government bail-out in British history, and in the aftermath of this catastrophic failure the entire financial system teetered on the brink of collapse. The ill-fated takeover has come to symbolise the worst excesses that preceded the credit crunch. Jeroen Smit, one of Europe's top financial investigative journalists, has built on unprecedented access to more than 120 individuals connected to the deal to reconstruct just how things went so very badly wrong. He reveals the true story behind the financial collapse: how, in little more than a decade, one of the world's largest and oldest banks went from powerful predator to perfect prey.
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organise and find favourite items. |
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Interesting read about the workings within a European board. It helps to have worked for the company to identify the persons referred to as one having not worked for ABN AMRO could get lost in the plethora of Dutch MDs mentioned.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
3 reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
A fascinating behind the scene reconstruction that shaped the ABN AMRO's history
5 July 2009
Format:Paperback
ABN AMRO has a special place in my heart. 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 1987 to 2007. This period covers the creation of ABN AMRO resulted from the merger of ABN and AMRO to its sad ending when RFS Holding acquired it.
I am amazed with the level of detail described by Mr Smit in this book. The way he presented the recollection of memories of these behind the scenes reconstructions makes the reader easy to follow the flow of the stories. It as if you were there and witnessing all of these scenes personally.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in ABN AMRO.
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 1987 to 2007. This period covers the creation of ABN AMRO resulted from the merger of ABN and AMRO to its sad ending when RFS Holding acquired it.
I am amazed with the level of detail described by Mr Smit in this book. The way he presented the recollection of memories of these behind the scenes reconstructions makes the reader easy to follow the flow of the stories. It as if you were there and witnessing all of these scenes personally.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in ABN AMRO.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Move over, Smartest Guys in the Room
30 Dec 2009
Format:Paperback
I worked for five years at ABN AMRO but left not long after the primary (albeit not sole) villain of the downfall of ABN AMRO took the helm. It was apparent to many of us then that all was not going to be right in the kingdom.
ABN AMRO may not have been a household name, but it was a good bank -- solid and honest. The bank many of us knew in the late 1990'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 making Citibank and HSBC take notice of us. We were a player others were beginning to watch. All that changed.
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: poor leaders, bad communicators, greedy managers, overly-complicated reporting structures, see-saw strategies....
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: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron
ABN AMRO may not have been a household name, but it was a good bank -- solid and honest. The bank many of us knew in the late 1990'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 making Citibank and HSBC take notice of us. We were a player others were beginning to watch. All that changed.
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: poor leaders, bad communicators, greedy managers, overly-complicated reporting structures, see-saw strategies....
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: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron
Fascinating Read with lessons for all businesses
21 Mar 2012
Format:Kindle Edition
I was not an ex-employee of ABN AMRO but nevertheless found myself repeatedly recollecting similar occurrences with previous employers at Reuters and Euronext. This was not merely the product of human strengths and frailties but also the management fashions of the the nineties and naughties (SBU's, Global Accounts, Customer Focus, Quality, Peer Groups, Score Cards, well reputed but utterly useless consultants, new ventures etc, etc).
The author appears to have had incredible access to information and sources that normally goes through a shredder or quite simply disappears with death. Hence what could have been a dry rather turgid subject turns into a dramatic and riveting read. Well done and I only regret that his other works are not available on Kindle.
The author appears to have had incredible access to information and sources that normally goes through a shredder or quite simply disappears with death. Hence what could have been a dry rather turgid subject turns into a dramatic and riveting read. Well done and I only regret that his other works are not available on Kindle.
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
