The company court has ordered a major independent investigation into the break-up of the Fortis financial services group to establish if there was mismanagement, the Dutch press report on Tuesday.

Shareholders lobby group VEB, which brought the action on behalf of Fortis shareholders, is jubilant with the outcome. It says the court’s ruling means Fortis shareholders do not have to accept the break-up of the concern until the results of the investigation are known.
Should the investigation show that there was mismanagement, Fortis will have to pay billions of euros in compensation to shareholders, according to media reports.
The VEB demanded a probe into events at Fortis between May 2007, when it became one of the three financial institutions to take over Dutch bank ABN Amro, and the recent dismantling of the group.
The VEB accuses Fortis management of not keeping shareholders properly informed about the group’s financial situation.
Now the company court has found largely in favour of the VEB, a three-man commission will be set up to investigate the charge of mismanagement. Financial experts see the commission as a form of ‘super supervisory body’ because no time limit has been set for its work.
Last month the Dutch government nationalised the Dutch banking and insurance activities of the Fortis group, including ABN Amro. On Monday the court refused to reverse this decision.