Next step in the Fortis settlement: public hearing was held

Today the Amsterdam Court of Appeal held a public hearing during which it heard the request to declare the Fortis settlement binding, as well as the arguments that were submitted against it.

In May 2016 Ageas, Stichting FORsettlement and the claimants' organisations, Dutch shareholder Association VEB, Stichting Investor Claims Against Fortis (SICAF), Stichting FortisEffect and Deminor (together the 'Petitioners') submitted a joint request to the Amsterdam Court of Appeal to declare the settlement agreement of 14 March 2016 binding in accordance with the Dutch Act on Collective Settlement of Mass Claims (Wet Collectieve Afwikkeling Massaschade, 'WCAM').

As part of this procedure, the Court of Appeal held a public hearing in Amsterdam today. The Petitioners argued that the settlement should be declared binding as it fulfils the legal requirements of representativeness and fairness. They also responded to the arguments raised by the parties that lodged a defence.

Next step

The Amsterdam Court of Appeal will make a decision regarding the request to declare the settlement binding on Friday 16 June 2017.

Ageas will report further as soon as the decision has been made.

For all relevant information about the settlement, please refer to the dedicated website FORsettlement.com. Any questions regarding this settlement may also be sent to: info@forsettlement.com.

Ageas is a listed international insurance Group with a heritage spanning 190 years. It offers Retail and Business customers Life and Non-Life products that meet their specific needs, not just for today but also for tomorrow. Ageas, one of the largest insurance companies in Europe, is mainly active in Europe and Asia, which together make up the majority of the global insurance market. Through a combination of wholly owned subsidiaries and long term partnerships with strong financial institutions and key distributors, Ageas operates successful insurance businesses in Belgium, the UK, Luxembourg, France, Italy, Portugal, Turkey, China, Malaysia, India, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Singapore, and the Philippines. In most of the countries where it operates, Ageas is among the market leaders. Ageas has more than 40,000 employees, and inflows amounted to around EUR 32 billion (all figures at 100%) in 2016.