Radio Nederland Wereldomroep

Shareholders reject Belgian Fortis deal

RNW News

11-02-2009

Shareholders have voted against the sale of parts of the Dutch-Belgian financial services groups Fortis. At a meeting in Brussels, it became clear there was also no support for the sale of the Belgian share of BNP Paribas, even though the agreement was recently amended following a lawsuit brought by shareholders.

Splitting Fortis
Smiling Dutch and Belgian faces all around when Fortis was split up
In 2008, Fortis was taken over by the Dutch, Belgian and Luxembourg governments as a result of the credit crisis and the expense take over of ABN Amro divisions. The Belgian government later concluded an agreement on the sale of parts of Fortis Bank to the French bank BNP Paribas.

It is not clear what the consequences of today's vote will be. The nationalisation of the Dutch branch of Fortis will not be affected, but the Belgian sale of Fortis divisions to BNP Paribas will.

From the outset, Brussels' nationalisation of Fortis was meant to be temporary, since the Belgian state already has major stakes in other banks, which would lead to too many banks being partially state-owned.

Tags: credit crisis, Fortis

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