Tortuous bailout

The rescue and break-up of Fortis seemed decisive and surgical when it happened one weekend in October. But it is proving to be among the most tortuous bailouts of the financial crisis. And there is no easy end in sight of the squabbling around the Benelux bancassurer. Shareholders who objected to the initial carve up, which involves the sale of much of Fortis’s assets to France’s BNP Paribas, fought successfully to get a vote on the transaction. That, in turn, prompted a renegotiation of the te...