A bancassurer goes public and six years later the owners expropriated. That calls for a large-scale study on the stock market failed adventure and questionable outcome. The VEB examines the legal possibilities.
How did it come with SNS? And was nationalization whereby shareholders and subordinated bondholders their entire interests saw evaporate really the best way?
These are the main questions that the VEB on behalf of investors to get an answer.
The association investigates take all legal options, such as a corridor to the Enterprise or appeal against nationalization.
Occasion
New information on SNS raises doubts about previous statements of the group and its auditor KPMG.
The VEB wonders whether SNS - approved by KPMG - in the past deliberately tried to hurt the future to advance, hoping that future profits would be sufficient to compensate for the impairments.
Sijbrand director Jan De Nederlandsche Bank said that already the end of 2011 it was clear that SNS "no longer able could be deemed to own its financial position sufficiently up to standard."
This is in sharp contrast with statements of SNS during the meeting with shareholders in the spring of 2012. The problems in the real estate branch were then by SNS directors and auditors KPMG as much smaller than suggested now comes out.
This cries out for explanation under oath of stakeholders.
Expropriation
And then there is the expropriation by the State. Shareholders and subordinated bondholders get nothing back, an unprecedented measure, made possible by a two year old law.
Minister Dijsselbloem on the decision to
The nationalization of SNS was the Minister of Finance unavoidable and necessary to depositors and the financial system rescue.
But how necessary was the expropriation anyway?
The problems at SNS were highly concentrated in the real estate stuck Property Finance. Insured through SNS (Reaal, Axa) had little to fear. Their policies are well protected.
And SNS Bank could in principle continue running as long as depositors their deposits are not massively took away. DNB speaks of an exodus of savings, but that seems very modest compared to the massive savings that the bank had been entrusted.
More about SNS
Really acute concerns about the availability of money - liquidity - are therefore relative. When SNS play especially problems with solvency, so ask whether SNS his financial obligations. Justifies expropriation of the whole group including all healthy parts?
Taxpayers
Minister Dijsselbloem in the notes to its decision made it clear that there is a focus on a solution that will hit taxpayers as little as possible.
The question is whether the expropriation before the correct route. The State wants the billions involved in the rescue (partly) back by pieces of SNS in time back to the market.
Will investors and other market participants in the future to pay for many companies that just may be expropriated?
