Barclays’ lucky ABN escape has more than a touch of irony

The acquisition of ABN Amro was meant to transform Royal Bank of Scotland into a genuine powerhouse in global financial markets. Instead, the takeover marked the beginning of the end of RBS’s rapid overseas expansion and its descent into nationalisation. Meanwhile, the bank it beat in the race for ABN, Barclays, has since managed to bring on board powerful strategic investors including the mighty Temasek, snap up Lehman Brothers’ US business for a song and, crucially, avoid state support and all which that entails.