2017, Belgium
On 12 December 2017, after months of negotiations, Deminor, Ageas SA/NV (‘Ageas’, formerly known as Fortis SA/NV) and other claimant groups entered into an Amended Settlement Agreement for the benefit of Fortis investors.
Under the terms of the Amended Settlement Agreement, the total settlement amount was increased by a further €100 million bringing it to a total of €1.3 billion. The initial €1.2 billion settlement reached on 14 March 2016 (the “2016 Settlement”), which meant that at the time Ageas SA/NV already was the largest investor claims settlement in Europe at the time.
In May 2016, the negotiating parties submitted the 2016 settlement to the Court of Appeal of Amsterdam and requested the Court to declare the agreement generally binding on all eligible shareholders in accordance with the Dutch Law on the Collective Settlement of Mass Claims (WCAM). In June 2017, the Court made comments on the proposed settlement agreement and recommended that the parties amend the agreement.
After June 2017, Deminor, Ageas and the other parties to the settlement entered into negotiations which went on for almost 6 months and resulted in the Amended Settlement Agreement.
Deminor firmly believes that the Amended Settlement Agreement represents the best result that could be achieved in the interest of Fortis investors, including the group of retail and institutional investors represented by Deminor, while also taking into account the comments made by the Court of Amsterdam.
In a decision published on 13 July 2018, the Court of Amsterdam declared the Amended Fortis Settlement generally binding. This represents a significant step forward in the recovery process, enabling investors in Fortis shares, including those assisted and represented by Deminor, to benefit from a fair compensation for their losses.
