Belgian shareholders in what remains of Dutch-Belgian financial services group Fortis on Tuesday voted against the appointment of Etienne Davignon as group chairman.

Davignon was narrowly approved by Dutch shareholders on Monday.
Two other nominated board members, Jan-Michiel Hessels and Philippe Bodson, were also rejected, in line with the position taken by Dutch shareholders on Monday.
The decision means the company now only has a CEO – Karel de Boeck – and one other director, Cheung Chi An, who represents major shareholder Ping An, a Chinese insurance group.
At least one new executive must be found to meet legal requirements.
Shareholders lobby groups VEB and Deminor had called for the rejection of the board nominees, arguing they had too many connections with the ‘old Fortis’ and could not defend shareholders’ rights properly.
Some 5,500 shareholders were at the Brussels meeting.
After the company got into financial difficulties, the Dutch government nationalised the Fortis Nederland operations and France’s Paribas BNP bought most of the Belgian arm.
Fortis now consists of an international insurance operation and a credit portfolio. Its share price has slumped from €18 at the beginning of this year to less than €1.