Today the Amsterdam Court of Appeal declared the Fortis settlement entered into between Ageas, Stichting FORsettlement and the claimant organisations (i.e. Vereniging van Effectenbezitters, Deminor, Stichting Investor Claims Against Fortis (SICAF) and Stichting FortisEffect) binding.
This decision means that Eligible Shareholders (i.e. persons who held Fortis Shares at any time between close of business on 28 February 2007 and close of business on 14 October 2008) are entitled to compensation for the events of 2007-2008 subject to a full release of liability with respect to these events, and in accordance with the (other) terms of the settlement agreement.
Further practical details about the settlement and steps to be taken by Eligible Shareholders will be announced in a separate press release next Monday 16 July 2018 and on FORsettlement.com.
Commenting on the outcome, Bart De Smet, Ageas CEO, said: "We're very pleased with the Court's decision. Finally we can bring this part of the Fortis legacy to a close in the interest of all former Fortis shareholders as well as Ageas and its stakeholders. The settlement enables us to regain our full strategic and financial flexibility and to focus entirely on our core business: insurance."
For all relevant information about the settlement and any updates on timing, please refer to the dedicated website FORsettlement.com. Any questions regarding this settlement may also be sent to: forsettlement@computershare.com.
Ageas is a listed international insurance Group with a heritage spanning 190 years. It offers Retail and Business customers Life and Non-Life insurance products designed to suit their specific needs, today and tomorrow. As one of Europe's larger insurance companies, Ageas concentrates its activities in Europe and Asia, which together make up the major part of the global insurance market. It operates successful insurance businesses in Belgium, the UK, Luxembourg, France, Portugal, Turkey, China, Malaysia, India, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Singapore, and the Philippines through a combination of wholly owned subsidiaries and long term partnerships with strong financial institutions and key distributors. Ageas ranks among the market leaders in the countries in which it operates. It represents a staff force of over 50,000 people and reported annual inflows close to EUR 34 billion in 2017 (all figures at 100%).
