#4. RBS Consortium Wins Battle for ABN Amro
A nasty banking brawl, so very un-European, broke out between Barclays and a consortium led by Royal Bank of Scotland Group (including Banco Santander and Fortis). The prize: Holland's ABN Amro, a vaunted name but nevertheless a mediocre performer, which was put in play by Barclays as European banks continue to consolidate. The winning bid: $101 billion. For that kind of coin, RBS gets more swagger in the U.S., Europe and Asia; the Brazilian and Italian units go to Spain's Santander; and Fortis gets ABN Amro's Dutch retail business and other leftovers.