Credit crisis main players in spotlight at new parliamentary inquiry

A parliamentary inquiry into the effect of the billions of euros spent to combat the 2008 credit crisis will begin hearing witnesses under oath on Monday.


The committee, under the leadership of Socialist Party MP Jan de Wit, will hear over 40 witnesses. The hearings are expected to last five weeks.
De Wit chaired a previous commission which looked into the causes of the crisis but could not hear witnesses under oath. This time the focus is on the main players in the crisis and the effectiveness of the political response, and Dutch nationals have a legal duty to attend.
Politicians
The inquiry will hear from politicians, civil servants and executives from ABN Amro, Fortis and Rabobank. Former prime minister Jan Peter Balkenende and finance minister Wouter Bos are also on the witness list.
However, former Fortis boss Maurice Lippens and ING’s former chief executive Michel Tilmant are unlikely to be present because as foreign nationals, they are not required to be there by law, the Volkskrant says.
The NRC lists six main issues which will be the focus at the inquiry:

  • The state’s takeover of Fortis bank, including parts of ABN Amro, for €16.8bn.
  • The €20bn set aside in state guarantees for ING, Aegon and SNS Reaal, of which €13.8bn was actually handed over.
  • The €200bn guarantee ruling for bank loans, of which €50bn was used by Fortis, ING, LeasePlan, SNS, NIBC and Achmea.
  • The decision to increase the private saver guarantee scheme to €100,000 per individual.
  • The €1.3bn loan to Iceland in relation to the Icesave bankruptcy.
  • The €22bn guarantee given to ING for its US mortgage portfolio.
    The last time there was a parliamentary inquiry in the Netherlands was in 2002-2003. That focused on the massacre of Srebrenica and led to the government’s resignation.

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