Corporate & Securities Law

Fortis SA/NV subject of enquiries

By Werner R. Kranenburg

The Enterprise Chambers of the Amsterdam Court of Appeals and of the Courts of Brussels both declined to enjoin the transactions that, among other things, saw Fortis SA/NV partially sold off to BNP Paribas. (previous post) The Brussels court issued its decision on 18 November, the Amsterdam court a week later on the 24th. (Amsterdam summary, decision, in Dutch; Brussels, decision in French and see Beduveld.nl, in Dutch) Plaintiffs’ counsel in the Dutch case is Spigthoff Advocaten & Belastingadviseurs NV.

Both courts though decided to instigate an inquiry (enquêteonderzoek), into the policy of Fortis, the course of events from 27 May 2007 and the transactions that occurred between 26 September 2008 until 7 October 2008, inclusive (Amsterdam) and into the valuation of the shares (Brussels), respectively. Modrikamen, counsel for the plaintiffs in the Belgian case, has stated it will appeal the decision.

In New York, so far at least one action (case detail, complaint dated 22 October 2008) has been filed against Fortis. The proposed class period is between 28 January 2008 and 6 October 2008, inclusive. Plaintiff’s counsel is Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz LLP. If you want to move for Lead Plaintiff status in that case, you must do so no later than 22 December 2008. Scott+Scott LLP has Fortis listed in its ‘Case investigations’ section for the present (here).

Full post as published by With Vigour and Zeal on December 01, 2008 (boomark / email).