Amsterdam district court on Thursday morning gave DSB bank boss Dirk Scheringa until midday on Friday to find a buyer for his bank or face bankruptcy.

Scheringa has until then to let the court know ‘if there is a real and very short term’ chance of finding a buyer to take over the entire bank, the court said in a statement.
Scheringa told the court during Wednesday evening’s hearing that he wanted to have talks with a number of big banks about the financial risks facing DSB.

Takeover
However, the chance of the independent bank being taken over is ‘extremely slim’ according to most of the Dutch papers this morning.
DSB is in financial trouble because more than €600m in savings has been withdrawn since the beginning of the month following a campaign by angry customers who say they were oversold mortgages and insurance policies.
The curators, who were appointed on Monday, went to court on Wednesday evening to have the bankruptcy formalised. According to the Volkskrant, they had spoken to several companies interested in taking over DSB but all pulled out.
Staff in tears
Some 200 DSB staff were at Wednesday night’s hearing to show their support for the bank. News of the impending bankruptcy has hit staff hard with many leaving the bank’s headquarters in Wognum in tears after being told of the court hearing, the Volkskrant said.
Support is high for the bank’s boss Dirk Scheringa, the Telegraaf reports. ‘He is our employer and I have worked for him with pleasure for years,’ one worker said. ‘I would have stayed there till my pension. So you can imagine how it feels.’
‘Mistakes have been made but the situation now is totally out of proportion,’ said another.
More on this
Fees of up to 80% common in credit insurance
Insurance agents warned about DSB
MPs demand answers from finance minister
DSB in hands of administrators
DSB boss took millions from ‘his’ bank
Should the government bail out DSB? Take part in our poll