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	<title>abn-amro-bank &amp;laquo; WordPress.com Tag Feed</title>
	<link>http://en.wordpress.com/tag/abn-amro-bank/</link>
	<description>Feed of posts on WordPress.com tagged "abn-amro-bank"</description>
	<pubDate>Thu, 31 Dec 2009 19:43:01 +0000</pubDate>

	<generator>http://en.wordpress.com/tags/</generator>
	<language>en</language>

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<title><![CDATA[Banks In India]]></title>
<link>http://varanasiindia.wordpress.com/2009/12/14/banks-in-india-2/</link>
<pubDate>Mon, 14 Dec 2009 12:38:50 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>vipisingh1</dc:creator>
<guid>http://varanasiindia.wordpress.com/2009/12/14/banks-in-india-2/</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ABN AMRO Bank Andhra Bank Axis Bank Bank of Baroda Bank Of India Barclays Bank Canara Bank Central B]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class='snap_preview'><ol>
<li>ABN AMRO Bank</li>
<li>Andhra Bank</li>
<li>Axis Bank</li>
<li>Bank of Baroda</li>
<li>Bank Of India</li>
<li>Barclays Bank</li>
<li>Canara Bank</li>
<li>Central Bank of India</li>
<li>Citibank</li>
<li>Corporation Bank</li>
<li>Dena Bank</li>
<li>Deutsche Bank</li>
<li>GE Financial</li>
<li>HDFC Bank</li>
<li>HSBC</li>
<li>ICICI Bank</li>
<li>IDBI Bank</li>
<li>Indiabulls Financial Services</li>
<li>Indian Bank</li>
<li>Indian Overseas Bank</li>
<li>ING Vysya</li>
<li>Kotak Mahindra Bank</li>
<li>LIC Housing Finance</li>
<li>National Housing Bank</li>
<li>Oriental Bank of Commerce</li>
<li>Punjab &#38; Sind Bank,</li>
<li>Punjab National Bank</li>
<li>Reliance Money</li>
<li>Standard Chartered Bank</li>
<li>State Bank of India</li>
<li>Syndicate Bank</li>
<li>Union Bank of India</li>
<li>United Bank of India</li>
</ol>
</div>]]></content:encoded>
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<title><![CDATA[Wat is Ideal en hoe werkt online bankieren?]]></title>
<link>http://mijnidealcasinos.wordpress.com/2009/11/29/wat-is-ideal-en-hoe-werkt-online-bankieren/</link>
<pubDate>Sun, 29 Nov 2009 21:35:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>wpindex</dc:creator>
<guid>http://mijnidealcasinos.wordpress.com/2009/11/29/wat-is-ideal-en-hoe-werkt-online-bankieren/</guid>
<description><![CDATA[iDeal is een Nederlandse wijze van online geld betalingen doen waardoor Internet gebruikers vertrouw]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class='snap_preview'><table align="left" border="0" width="300">
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<td>
<a href="http://go.oranjecasino.com/cgi/re?a=p2p4me&#38;b=oranjecasino&#38;x=mijnideal"><img src="http://download.oranjecasino.com/shared/img/promo/oranjecasino/actie_250x250.gif" border="0" alt="" width="250" height="250"></a>
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</table>
<p> iDeal is een Nederlandse wijze van online geld betalingen doen waardoor Internet gebruikers vertrouwd aankopen kunnen doen op het net, Internet winkels of casino’s, het is allemaal mogelijk. Gewoon via je eigen bank.</p>
<p>Het Internet wordt steeds vaker gebruikt door consumenten om aankopen te doen, denk aan boeken, vakanties of huishoudelijke artikelen. Vroeger kon men alleen betalen met credit card maar omdat niet iedereen een dergelijk kaart had bestond de vraag naar iets anders waar iedereen gebruik van kon maken, iDeal. Let wel dat Ideal alleen in Nederland gebruikt wordt, alhoewel er ook bedrijven/ casinos zijn die weliswaar in het buitenland gevestigd zijn maar toch aangesloten zijn op het betaal systeem van Ideal</p>
<p>In samenwerking met alle grote banken, Postbank, Rabobank, ABN-AMRO bank, Fortis bank en ING bank is er een systeem ontwikkeld die vertrouwd is en door iedereen kan worden gebruikt die Internet bankieren heeft. Lees verder over Ideal,<a href="http://mijnidealcasinos.wordpress.com/wat-is-ideal/"> klik hier</a></p>
</div>]]></content:encoded>
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<item>
<title><![CDATA[Escola São Francisco de Assis e Instituto Escola Brasil realizam Poesia Viva]]></title>
<link>http://impressione.wordpress.com/2009/11/19/escola-sao-francisco-de-assis-e-instituto-escola-brasil-realizam-poesia-viva/</link>
<pubDate>Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:31:05 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>impressione</dc:creator>
<guid>http://impressione.wordpress.com/2009/11/19/escola-sao-francisco-de-assis-e-instituto-escola-brasil-realizam-poesia-viva/</guid>
<description><![CDATA[A Escola Municipal São Francisco de Assis, localizado no bairro de Nazaré, promoveu a Poesia Viva, a]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[A Escola Municipal São Francisco de Assis, localizado no bairro de Nazaré, promoveu a Poesia Viva, a]]></content:encoded>
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<item>
<title><![CDATA[1° Ano do Projeto Aikidô - Escola Municipal São Francisco de Assis - EMSFA]]></title>
<link>http://impressione.wordpress.com/2009/06/29/1%c2%b0-ano-do-projeto-aikido-escola-municipal-sao-francisco-de-assis-emsfa/</link>
<pubDate>Mon, 29 Jun 2009 15:15:16 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>impressione</dc:creator>
<guid>http://impressione.wordpress.com/2009/06/29/1%c2%b0-ano-do-projeto-aikido-escola-municipal-sao-francisco-de-assis-emsfa/</guid>
<description><![CDATA[No dia 28/06/2009, o Projeto Aikidô, Trabalho Voluntário exercido na Escola Municipal São Francisco ]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[No dia 28/06/2009, o Projeto Aikidô, Trabalho Voluntário exercido na Escola Municipal São Francisco ]]></content:encoded>
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<title><![CDATA[ABN AMRO's bad UI design.]]></title>
<link>http://yeskarthi.wordpress.com/2009/05/29/abn-amros-bad-ui-design/</link>
<pubDate>Fri, 29 May 2009 06:54:02 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Karthi</dc:creator>
<guid>http://yeskarthi.wordpress.com/2009/05/29/abn-amros-bad-ui-design/</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Take your time and find the error message displayed in the two screen shots. These are from ABN AMRO]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class='snap_preview'><p>Take your time and find the error message displayed in the two screen shots. These are from ABN AMRO bank.</p>
<div>
<div>It took me fifteen precious minutes before a friend letting me know what went wrong. He had in turn called the banks help desk. The help desk latter let him know where to look for elusive error messages.</div>
<div></div>
<div>This user interface design violates the most basic principal of design, which is principle of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principle_of_least_astonishment">least astonishment</a> . The error message is not getting displayed, where I am expecting it to appear and it is displayed on a colour strip that is a part of logo.</div>
</div>
<p><a href="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/karthi/rNxyPiQwjTgmeAaCQR66cb1jUhZkkrIgWLaI31D94KHbWn2FnBjCOz4sejWC/post_1.png"><img src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/karthi/wSjQDlULl6vf6p2k9e5LuzW1OMIwdtrtExZAfQUdE9NY0C3FwIGtpIsYKvZg/post_1.png.scaled.500.jpg" alt="" /></a> <a href="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/karthi/lGijQvrZUVb0nm5DjtmDCSu284KRjDCj2ETErPUUiQ7OlgdzXHdVSYj8yRif/post_2.png"><img src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/karthi/2e4bn9vw0CykMIGBfSIWCMi0YnIOwLxEMlDe6sBxYCzb8iqOG2L23avBxliq/post_2.png.scaled.500.jpg" alt="" /></a> <a href="http://karthi.posterous.com/abn-amros-bad-ui-design">See and download the full gallery on posterous</a></p>
<p style="font-size:10px;"><a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://karthi.posterous.com/abn-amros-bad-ui-design">Karthi</a></p>
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<item>
<title><![CDATA[Kinderzaken helpen War Child]]></title>
<link>http://kinderleed.wordpress.com/2009/04/21/kinderzaken-helpen-war-child/</link>
<pubDate>Tue, 21 Apr 2009 14:00:07 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>admin2kinderleed</dc:creator>
<guid>http://kinderleed.wordpress.com/2009/04/21/kinderzaken-helpen-war-child/</guid>
<description><![CDATA[trotse kinderen. HEEMSTEDE &#8211; Martijn, Caspar, Anne, Marjolein, Tom en Kim staan trots achter h]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[trotse kinderen. HEEMSTEDE &#8211; Martijn, Caspar, Anne, Marjolein, Tom en Kim staan trots achter h]]></content:encoded>
</item>
<item>
<title><![CDATA[Minha Chegada ao Aikidô – Por Maria Luiza Silva da Costa]]></title>
<link>http://impressione.wordpress.com/2009/03/09/minha-chegada-ao-aikido-%e2%80%93-por-maria-luiza-silva-da-costa/</link>
<pubDate>Mon, 09 Mar 2009 13:33:46 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>impressione</dc:creator>
<guid>http://impressione.wordpress.com/2009/03/09/minha-chegada-ao-aikido-%e2%80%93-por-maria-luiza-silva-da-costa/</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Antes de entrar no Aikidô eu sempre falava:   - Eu queria participar de algum projeto daqui da escol]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[Antes de entrar no Aikidô eu sempre falava:   - Eu queria participar de algum projeto daqui da escol]]></content:encoded>
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<item>
<title><![CDATA[Projeto do Aikidô da Escola Municipal São Francisco de Assis – Natal/RN - Confraternização de Final de Ano]]></title>
<link>http://impressione.wordpress.com/2008/12/15/projeto-do-aikido-da-escola-municipal-sao-francisco-de-assis-%e2%80%93-natalrn-confraternizacao-de-final-de-ano/</link>
<pubDate>Mon, 15 Dec 2008 16:19:40 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>impressione</dc:creator>
<guid>http://impressione.wordpress.com/2008/12/15/projeto-do-aikido-da-escola-municipal-sao-francisco-de-assis-%e2%80%93-natalrn-confraternizacao-de-final-de-ano/</guid>
<description><![CDATA[No sábado, 13/12/2008, ocorreu na Escola Municipal São Francisco de Assis, Bairro de Nazaré, em Nata]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[No sábado, 13/12/2008, ocorreu na Escola Municipal São Francisco de Assis, Bairro de Nazaré, em Nata]]></content:encoded>
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<title><![CDATA[Resultado da VIII Mostra Cultural da Escola Municipal São Francisco de Assis – Natal/RN]]></title>
<link>http://impressione.wordpress.com/2008/10/20/resultado-da-viii-mostra-cultural-da-escola-municipal-sao-francisco-de-assis-%e2%80%93-natalrn/</link>
<pubDate>Mon, 20 Oct 2008 15:24:03 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>impressione</dc:creator>
<guid>http://impressione.wordpress.com/2008/10/20/resultado-da-viii-mostra-cultural-da-escola-municipal-sao-francisco-de-assis-%e2%80%93-natalrn/</guid>
<description><![CDATA[  Sucesso. Esta é a palavra para dar nome ao resultado da VIII Mostra Cultural da Escola Municipal S]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[  Sucesso. Esta é a palavra para dar nome ao resultado da VIII Mostra Cultural da Escola Municipal S]]></content:encoded>
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<item>
<title><![CDATA[Mostra Cultural da Escola Municipal São Francisco de Assis – Natal/RN]]></title>
<link>http://impressione.wordpress.com/2008/10/14/feira-de-ciencias-da-escola-municipal-sao-francisco-de-assis-%e2%80%93-natalrn/</link>
<pubDate>Tue, 14 Oct 2008 15:04:25 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>impressione</dc:creator>
<guid>http://impressione.wordpress.com/2008/10/14/feira-de-ciencias-da-escola-municipal-sao-francisco-de-assis-%e2%80%93-natalrn/</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Sexta (17/10) e Sábado (18/10), na Escola Municipal São Francisco de Assis, bairro de Nazaré, Natal/]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[Sexta (17/10) e Sábado (18/10), na Escola Municipal São Francisco de Assis, bairro de Nazaré, Natal/]]></content:encoded>
</item>
<item>
<title><![CDATA[Dias dos Pais na Escola Municipal São Francisco de Assis]]></title>
<link>http://impressione.wordpress.com/2008/08/15/dias-dos-pais-na-escola-municipal-sao-francisco-de-assis/</link>
<pubDate>Fri, 15 Aug 2008 17:37:25 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>impressione</dc:creator>
<guid>http://impressione.wordpress.com/2008/08/15/dias-dos-pais-na-escola-municipal-sao-francisco-de-assis/</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Na noite do dia 13 de agosto de 2008 a EMSFA, em Natal/RN, esteve em festa para a comemoração do dia]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[Na noite do dia 13 de agosto de 2008 a EMSFA, em Natal/RN, esteve em festa para a comemoração do dia]]></content:encoded>
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<item>
<title><![CDATA[TV REAL faz filmagem do Projeto Aikidô na E. M. São Francisco de Assis ]]></title>
<link>http://impressione.wordpress.com/2008/08/05/tv-real-faz-filmagem-do-projeto-aikido-na-e-m-sao-francisco-de-assis/</link>
<pubDate>Tue, 05 Aug 2008 16:00:36 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>impressione</dc:creator>
<guid>http://impressione.wordpress.com/2008/08/05/tv-real-faz-filmagem-do-projeto-aikido-na-e-m-sao-francisco-de-assis/</guid>
<description><![CDATA[A Escola Municipal São Francisco de Assis (EMSFA), em Natal/RN, esteve em festa na tarde deste dia 0]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[A Escola Municipal São Francisco de Assis (EMSFA), em Natal/RN, esteve em festa na tarde deste dia 0]]></content:encoded>
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<item>
<title><![CDATA[Trabalho Voluntário - Responsabilidade Social - Escola Municipal São Francisco de Assis - Natal/RN]]></title>
<link>http://impressione.wordpress.com/2008/07/02/trabalho-voluntario-responsabilidade-social/</link>
<pubDate>Wed, 02 Jul 2008 19:51:59 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>impressione</dc:creator>
<guid>http://impressione.wordpress.com/2008/07/02/trabalho-voluntario-responsabilidade-social/</guid>
<description><![CDATA[No dia 28/06/2008, sábado, foi dado início ao trabalho voluntário multidisciplinar em prol das crian]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[No dia 28/06/2008, sábado, foi dado início ao trabalho voluntário multidisciplinar em prol das crian]]></content:encoded>
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<title><![CDATA[Cine aleargă mult pentru bani, îi donează]]></title>
<link>http://razvanserbu.wordpress.com/2008/06/22/cine-alearga-mult-pentru-bani-ii-doneaza/</link>
<pubDate>Sun, 22 Jun 2008 20:37:21 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>razvanserbu</dc:creator>
<guid>http://razvanserbu.wordpress.com/2008/06/22/cine-alearga-mult-pentru-bani-ii-doneaza/</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Iata o stire in domeniul caritatii. Un domeniu in care fiecare dintre noi ne putem aduce un mic apor]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class='snap_preview'><p>Iata o stire in domeniul caritatii. Un domeniu in care fiecare dintre noi ne putem aduce un mic aport. Totusi, cel mai nefericit lucru din tot acest comunicat mi s-a parut titlul:<br />
<em>Sute de şireturi au fost legate de cele peste 650 de persoane prezente la &#8220;Maratonul DHL Ştafeta Carpaţilor&#8221; 2008</em><br />
Pentru multi, legarea sireturilor are alta semnificatie. De obicei, se intelege legarea sireturilor de la pantoful stang, cu cel de la dreptul. <img src='http://s.wordpress.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif' alt=':D' class='wp-smiley' />  Dar sa nu fim carcotasi si sa apreciem evenimentul.<br />
Deci, peste 650 de persoane au fost prezente la a patra ediţie a &#8220;Maratonului DHL Ştafeta Carpaţilor&#8221;.<br />
&#8220;Maratonul DHL Ştafeta Carpaţilor este cel mai cunoscut eveniment sportiv şi caritabil de acest gen din România.<br />
Iata si cateva poze de la eveniment:<!--more--><br />
<a href="http://razvanserbu.files.wordpress.com/2008/06/img_6755.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-289" src="http://razvanserbu.wordpress.com/files/2008/06/img_6755.jpg?w=200" alt="" width="200" height="300" /></a></p>
<p><a href="http://razvanserbu.files.wordpress.com/2008/06/img_6888.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-290" src="http://razvanserbu.wordpress.com/files/2008/06/img_6888.jpg?w=300" alt="" width="300" height="200" /></a></p>
<p><a href="http://razvanserbu.files.wordpress.com/2008/06/img_9075.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-291" src="http://razvanserbu.wordpress.com/files/2008/06/img_9075.jpg?w=300" alt="" width="300" height="200" /></a></p>
<p><a href="http://razvanserbu.files.wordpress.com/2008/06/img_9496.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-292" src="http://razvanserbu.wordpress.com/files/2008/06/img_9496.jpg?w=300" alt="" width="300" height="200" /></a></p>
<p>Anul acesta participarea la probele de maraton şi semimaraton s-a dublat, ceea ce dovedeşte faptul că evenimentul a încurajat cu succes practicarea acestui sport în România.<br />
Alexandru Papadopol (Acasa TV), Daniel Nitoiu (Sport.ro) şi VJ Oana (MTV) sunt doar câteva dintre personalităţile showbizului românesc care au susţinut şi s-au implicat activ în cadrul acestui proiect de anvergură.<br />
Apreciem faptul că personalităţile din showbizul românesc au fost alături de noi în demersul de a face acest eveniment cât mai cunoscut. Ediţia din acest an a maratonului s-a bucurat de susţinerea Violetei Beclea Szekely &#8211; reprezentanta Comitetului Olimpic Român,  Roxanei Ciuhulescu (ProTV), Mihai Morar (Radio 21), Adrian Bucur (Prima TV), Direcţia 5, Keo, Viţa de vie şi Voltaj. Acestora li s-au alăturat şi reprezentanţii canalului de ştiri sportive SPORT.ro: Daniel Niţoiu, Alexandra Derevici şi Daiana Anghel şi, echipa de VJ de la MTV Romania: Ela, Oana, Escu, Cristi Stanciu şi Dox.<br />
Un număr impresionant de participanţi s-au înregistrat în competiţie şi au participat activ luând startul Maratonului în Predeal: 83 de echipe la ştafetă, 93 de persoane la semimaraton şi 39 persoane pentru full maraton. Printre companiile care fie şi-au facut echipe proprii, fie au sponsorizat alte echipe şi au luat startul la maraton s-au regăsit: ABN Amro Bank, Alcatel, Allianz-Tiriac Asigurari S.A., Autolive, Berlin-Chemie, Biris Goran, Cargil,  Citibank, Colgate-Palmolive, Dacris, Dorna, Fastum Gel, French Embassy, HP,  Kronospan, La Strada, Mefin, Microsoft, Mindshare, Ogilvy, Ogilvy One, Pallas, Porsche, Prospero, Radiocom, Siemens, Sistec, Stryker, The Group.<br />
Gian Sharp, Managing Director al DHL International Romania şi-a legat şireturile şi a luat startul la maraton. &#8220;Am început acest eveniment în urmă cu patru ani şi ne-am luptat să îl facem cât mai cunoscut. Cifrele la care am ajuns la prezenta ediţie vorbesc de la sine şi sunt dovada eforturilor depuse de noi pentru promovarea sportului, a lucrului în echipa şi, cel mai important, a spiritului caritabil. &#8220;Maratonul DHL Ştafeta Carpaţilor&#8221; este cu siguranţă inclus în calendarul competiţiilor sportive şi va continua să reprezinte un eveniment frumos pentru mulţi ani de acum înainte &#8220;.<br />
Ediţia de anul acesta a mai stabilit un record prin suma strânsă pentru donaţii, care sperăm să ajungă la peste 20.000 euro. Organizatorii vor direcţiona aceste fonduri către &#8220;Asociaţia Noi Orizonturi Familia&#8221; şi vor fi folosite pentru continuarea proiectului început anul trecut &#8211; îmbunătăţirea condiţiilor de spitalizare în saloanele rămase neamenajate ale secţiei pentru copii de la Institutul de Oncologie din Bucureşti &#8211; şi oferirea unui tratament profesionist într-un centru unic de salină din Bucureşti pentru copiii care suferă de astm, copii provenind din medii sociale defavorizate sau orfani.</p>
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<title><![CDATA[Barclays Bank &amp; ABN AMRO Bank N.V. ]]></title>
<link>http://vulpine.wordpress.com/2007/04/10/barclays-bank-abn-amro-bank-nv/</link>
<pubDate>Tue, 10 Apr 2007 07:04:29 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>vulpine</dc:creator>
<guid>http://vulpine.wordpress.com/2007/04/10/barclays-bank-abn-amro-bank-nv/</guid>
<description><![CDATA[It had to happen that ABN AMRO be acquired or broken up or both. After languishing in the doldrums f]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class='snap_preview'><p>It had to happen that ABN AMRO be acquired or broken up or both.  After languishing in the doldrums for years under the lacklustre leadership of Rijkman Groenink, &#8217;something&#8217; had to happen.  Groenink is a nice guy, a bit &#8216;mean-spirited&#8217; at times but intelligent and personable but he is a recidivist under-performer in the top job as CEO of the Bank.  He hails from the AMRO side of the bank and while the ABN Bank management were considered &#8216;gentlemen&#8217; the AMRO guys were often thought of as street fighters.  It is from this culture that perhaps Groenink brings to bear along with his Calvinistic values that drives the bank and of course there is the dour obdurate nature of the Dutch people themselves that is going against him.</p>
<p>When appointed following Jan Kalaff as CEO, Groenink knew he had to &#8220;do something&#8221; to make his mark and he did do some things but mostly he made mistakes and under performed resulting in a steady growth in profits (mostly by selling assets/business units inside) and an acceptable dividend yield but the lack of strategy is reflected in the lack of upward movement in the share price during his tenure.  ABN AMRO Bank &#8220;could have been&#8221; another HSBC with the right leadership but instead it has lead to this&#8230;.</p>
<p>That ABN AMRO would seek to team up with the Brits is logical because the Anglo-Dutch alliance has worked in the past elsewhere and no one else in Europe would do.  When Groenink dismantled the protection mechanisms in place (long ago mostly to ward off the Japanese during the 1980&#8217;s) it was clear he wanted to be, and to be seen to be more &#8216;market driven&#8217;.  He embraced the American style of management including the strategy of American outside consultants embracing a &#8220;managing for growth&#8221; mantra; as did incidently Barclays.  The stouch with the Italians over Antonveneta  was uncharacteristically ABN AMRO as they had always (up to then at least&#8230;) embraced a warm and fuzzy acquisition strategy rather than the cold and prickly kind.</p>
<p>Groenink and Varley had been talking on and off for some years.  The problem is when Barclays was down and available for a good price ABN didn&#8217;t move promptly and decisively.  Now that ABN is down he is much more conciliatory and of course NOW something &#8220;must happen&#8221; and this puts Barclays in the driving seat.  It had long been mooted that RBS was always a contender to buy ABN (and break them up).  There is the familiar re-joiner by Groenink when speculated on that &#8220;the only Scots [sic] in this place is in the bar!&#8221;  Sir Fred knew what he wanted and it wasn&#8217;t the whole of ABN AMRO only bits and pieces of it and certainly NOT the domestic Dutch network which continues to languish with an unacceptable efficiency ratio dragging down the whole bank (but not exclusively; there are other non performing parts of the bank too).  Sir Fred naturally wants LaSalle in the US mid west which will fit nicely into existing operations and in true Jack Welch style all the cutting and integration and blood-letting will ensure RBS US operations will be a sound move after a year or so.  The rest?  Well Brazil maybe, Italy; yes definitely, India YES please, China; Yes, Pakistan; Yes especially now following the latest acquisition closed by ABN only days ago and some parts of the rest of Asia; HK, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia but the rest is pretty ho hum.</p>
<p>Barclays is a good fit for ABN AMRO because if completed gives the best survival to ABN as a brand name, presence globally and around the world and of course could save SOME of the management.  The problem with the Barclays takeover of ABN AMRO is there is not enough Jack Welsh style blood to let.  The best acquisitions are the kind where you can add together the revenue streams and halve the costs (at least) of the acquired unit and the efficiency ratio jumps (down) nicely thank you vey much.  This is what Sir Fred has in mind in the LaSalle case at least.  For the rest of the combined Barclays and ABN AMRO there is very little overlap so that same degree of efficiency is lacking.  If it goes ahead; it may well be that ABN AMRO drags down the overall performance of the combined Barclays ABN unit to the level of the ABN AMRO performance which would be a disaster for Barclays and for Varley.  Unless he takes some serious steps to &#8220;cut severely&#8221; the ABN AMRO he acquires it will continue to under perform; in that case Varley is toast within a short time.</p>
<p>Barclays will be reluctant to &#8220;over pay&#8221; for ABN AMRO Bank and if they fail to walk the tight balance on price then at the very least one can expect Sir Fred and his pals from Santander to come in, buy ABN AMRO carve up the bits they want and sell off the rest.  &#8220;The rest&#8221; I believe will include the domestic Dutch business unit that the customers in The Netherlands know as ABN AMRO Bank N.V.  If it were me advising Barclays and Sir Fred, it would be near the top of the &#8220;to do&#8221; list to carve off the 650 branches comprising the domestic Dutch network into  a separate unit and either sell it outright or float it on the stock exchange again within about two years maximum.  This would at least give De Nederlandsche Bank something to supervise and ABN AMRO Bank can still be a player in the domestic Dutch market and be a competitor for Rabo and ING Bank and others so to that extent the domestic market is NOT losing a competitor but it will be a much smaller competitor.</p>
<p>I can predict that Barclays WILL make an offer to acquire ABN AMRO.  I can also predict that the price they offer will be too little to appease the institutional shareholders who have finally brought this to a head.  After some indecisiveness RBS and Banc Santander will enter with an offer; but the Scots being Scots will not offer MUCH more but enough to whet the appetite of the likes of the fund mangers and then more will be expected from Barclays to sweeten the pie.  Groenink meanwhile knows already that he is lost personally and will plan NO PART in the future of the bank but he is pushing hard for Barclays because he knows with the alternative(s) that the Bank for the most part will cease to exist and the history to 1824 will be gone forever.  A deal with Barclays means some preservation of the ABN AMRO Bank network and management and staff; a deal with the Scots and Spanish will result in the demise of the Bank as he knows it.  The relationship between RBS and Santander goes back some ways to RBS&#8217; acquisition of Nat West under hostile conditions and Sir Fred won&#8217;t walk away just because there is a staouch involved.  RBS and Santander will if successful pay MORE and carve up the remains to spread far and wide.</p>
<p>In the event that Barclays pays MORE to the satisfaction of the institutional shareholders and wins the day then it is not &#8220;over&#8221; but just beginning and it will really focus the spotlight on Varley and what he can do with the behemoth to clean it up, trim it down and get the numbers in order within a reasonable period of time.  The Dutch won&#8217;t like this at all because their Calvinistic virtues that drive the bank embrace a cradle to grave mentality and that has to be unshackled as soon as possible with substantial loss of head count and other operating costs; TWO head offices is  a NO GO!  IF Varley is up to the task to integrate the two successfully and that will be a big job too it still is NOT over because there needs to be a steady rate of growth year after year and if Barclays want to continue to grow in new and expanding markets they need not look further than taking over Standard Chartered next.  Look out Mervin; here we go again!</p>
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