How could Jan Kalff keep from grinning? Announcing annual
results for the last time before his retirement in May, the
chairman of ABN Amro boasted that 1999 was the tenth consecutive
year of profit growth for the bank, with an overall rise of 40.6%,
the highest since the merger of the two Dutch banks in 1990. Kalff
exuded pride as he discussed the future of the bank. "What we do is
different from what other...
