A commercial court in Amsterdam ruled in favor of the Dutch, Belgian, and Luxembourg governments’ plans to break up Fortis SA. Reuters reports that a group of shareholders filed suit against the Dutch government to stop the break up, citing unfairness of the break up to shareholders. The plaintiffs sought damages from Fortis Holding, Fortis Netherlands, its executives, the Dutch and Belgian governments, and supervisors such as the Dutch and Belgian central banks. The court based its ruling on the fact the break up had already begun and there exist disagreements of how the units will be managed when the break up is put on hold. Fortis has been broken up along national lines and the Dutch government has already sold a Fortis insurance unit to UK insurer Amlin.
Fortis Shareholders Lose in Court
A commercial court in Amsterdam ruled against halting the break up of Fortis SA
August 7, 2009