The Dutch government and central bank played ‘a dirty game’ by refusing to pump money into financial services group Fortis at the beginning of October, a lawyer representing 2,000 Fortis shareholders says in Wednesday’s Financieele Dagblad.

‘If the Dutch central bank had helped save Fortis… the sale would not have been necessary,’ Brussels lawyer Mischaël Modrikamen, who is acting on behalf of 2,000 Fortis shareholders, told the paper.
Modrikamen went to court last to week in an effort to halt the split-up and sale of Fortis to the Dutch government and France’s BNP Paribas, arguing that shareholders should have their say.
The verdict is expected next week.
On Sunday September 28, the Dutch and Belgian governments announced an €11bn bail-out for Fortis, but the group’s share price continued to slide.
On October 3, the Dutch government said it would buy all Fortis’ operations in the Netherlands for €16.8bn.