The Financial Post reports in its Saturday, Aug. 12, edition that Laurentian Bank of Canada is on the block as part of a strategic process aimed at maximizing shareholder value. The Post's Barbara Shecter writes that Laurentian's underperformance is hard to ignore. Its share price has risen about 165 per cent since January, 1995, an order of magnitude below the 1,800-per-cent rise enjoyed by Royal Bank of Canada in the same period. National Bank of Canada, also based in Montreal, has seen similar gains, with its shares up more than 2,000 per cent since 1995. Its market capitalization of $34.4-billion in July dwarfed Laurentian's of just $1.72-billion. It might be tempting to tie Laurentian's failure to thrive to its role as a regional player, or to political concerns tied to its geographic stronghold in Quebec. Industry observers, however, say that alone cannot explain the bank's trajectory, which has resulted instead from a combination of factors including internal culture, early expansion and consolidation decisions, and an ultimate failure by the bank to consistently take the kind of entrepreneurial chances that would have allowed it to build a more competitive business rather than be relegated to the sidelines.