The Ghost of ABN Amro Haunts Europe's Banks

The promise of unlimited bond buying by the European Central Bank and a major rally in bank stocks and bonds weren't enough to stave off a crisis for Italian bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena and the Dutch lender SNS Reaal in recent weeks. The two banks have one thing in common with the UK's Royal Bank of Scotland and Belgium's Fortis. They all bought a part of the Dutch bank ABN AMRO in 2007 and suffered from the capital strain and losses caused by that acquisition.