Dutch investors’ lobby group VEB and several other organisations have reached a €1.2bn settlement on behalf of thousands of shareholders in financial services group Fortis.

The settlement, said by the VEB to be the biggest ever reached in Europe, will compensate shareholders who lost money on their investments in 2007 and 2008 because Fortis management did not keep them informed of the company’s financial situation.

Investors will get between 10% and 15% of their losses if the claim gets final court approval. The deal has been struck between the VEB and Ageas, as Fortis is now known.

The disintegration of the Dutch-Belgian banking group followed its role in the €72bn takeover of ABN Amro in 2007.

‘We hope that those who are eligible under this settlement will be satisfied with the outcome and that it will help Ageas, its stakeholders and all those involved to draw a line under what has been an uncertain and difficult period for everyone,’ chief executive Bart de Smet said in a statement.

The deal covers ‘all civil proceedings’ relating to events in 2007 and 2008. Ageas and the VEB will now ask the Amsterdam court of appeal to make the judgement binding. That process is likely to take a further 18 months to two years, the VEB said.