Bank of America Criticizes "Shocking" Dutch Court Ruling on LaSalle Sale -- FT

In an appeal filing, Bank of America [BofA] accused a Dutch court of breaking EU and Dutch law by blocking its $21 billion purchase of LaSalle Bank from ABN Amro, according to the Financial Times. The LaSalle sale was inked in conjunction with a sale of ABN itself to Barclays for €64 billion. The Dutch commercial court, the Enterprise Chamber, was approached by irate ABN investors who considered the LaSalle sale a poison pill intended to discourage the sale of ABN to a consortium that had put forward a rival bid of €71 billion. The Barclays bid is contingent on completion of the sale, but the consortium, led by Royal Bank of Scotland, wants LaSalle as part of any deal. The court sided with the investors and froze the sale until a shareholder vote, as yet unscheduled, could be held. The Dutch Supreme Court is now hearing appeals from BofA and ABN and is expected to rule by early July. In its appeal, BofA said it was "shocking" that the Enterprise Chamber "chose to disregard fundamental Dutch and European Union company law designed to protect third parties" for reasons that were "incomprehensible." If the Supreme Court upholds the freeze, BofA will sue ABN for "billions in damages."

Sources: Financial Times, Reuters, Forbes, Bloomberg
Commentary: RBS Says It's Not in Talks With Bank of America to Resolve LaSalle Sale • RBS-Led Consortium and Bank of America Near Deal on LaSalle -- WSJ • Judge Orders Freeze of ABN Sale of LaSalle to BoA
Stocks/ETFs to watch: ABN Amro Holding N.V. (ABN), Barclays PLC (BCS), Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc [ADR] (RBSPY), Fortis NV [ADR] (FORSY), Bank of America Corp. (BAC). Competitors: HSBC Holdings plc ADR (HBC), Deutsche Bank AG (DB), UBS AG (UBS). ETFs: iShares MSCI Netherlands Index (EWN), streetTRACKS KBW Bank (KBE), HOLDRS Regional Bank (RKH)

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