Local councils invested in troubled banks

The home affairs ministry is currently assessing Dutch local authority exposure to troubled financial institutions. So far, €58m has been identified, reports public broadcaster Nos.

The province of Zeeland, for example, has €5m invested with US merchant bank Lehman Brothers, which has gone bankrupt.
At least 12 local councils are also thought to have put money into Iceland’s Landsbanki, which is now under government protection.
One of those is the Noord Brabant council Asten (population 16,000), which has €1m with the Icelandic bank.
But most councils put the bulk of their cash with the local authorities’ bank BNG, news agency ANP reports.