haha suckers

this deal actually restored some faith in my (dutch) government. They do know how to do business ^^. Belgians are stuck with the problems while the dutch get the least troubled parts for a good price.

In all fairness though, it's the dutch part that's the least troubled so why wouldn't we get the better end of the deal?

The belgians can use the cash to clean up their own mess...

"The fmods owned me before I even knew it!"
LOL! Its against my principles but I've got to admit they got some sense of humor.

Bos was doing Machivellian politics. He said that Fortis was ruined due to book-keeping flaws before he bought the Dutch part up and said he was mistaken afterwards thus being able to buy Fortis at a very low price. He just couldn't be brought to care about the rest (e.g. Belgium). I just hope some angry mob sells their stock, gets over to Holland and lynches him...

The  reason they need money is because they asked for money in the first place. Or the gouverment started an investigation. I'm not sure how it started but suddenly people lost confidence and were worried shit might go south like the american banks. So.... you get the picture

Dutchies with their underhand tactics.

"This is one of those rare incidents where the Dutch nation does not criticize, but rather applauds Wouter Bos his actions. We just got a bank and a half for cheap! It seems like everyone on the bargaining table had forgotten that Bos, even though a socialist, is a Dutchman first and foremost.."

It probably became clear to everyone that fortis was a sinking ship regardless of any rescue attempts (barring absurdly costly ones); the belgian government also cherry picked the remaining healthy fortis activities in their subsequent rescue plan; last I heard was that the fortis holding now had a couple billion