The collapse of Dexia Bank has been rationalized by European and bank officials as a last act of the 2008 financial crisis, a slow-bleeding casualty whose complicated structure and investment portfolio couldn’t be rearranged effectively enough to survive when new problems hit. To that extent, they say, it holds few lessons for Europe’s banking system as a whole. But as officials meet this weekend to take yet another stab at fixing the euro region’s financial crisis, the Dexia meltdown looms. While some of its problems were unique, others are common to the European banking system, potentially making Dexia the canary ... (full story)