Dutch Court to Hear Parties on SNS Nationalization on Feb. 15
2013-02-07 11:11:07.56 GMT
By Maud van Gaal
Feb. 7 The top Dutch administrative court
will hear on Feb. 15 SNS Reaal NV investors’ appeals of the
government’s decision to expropriate their securities.
The administrative court of the Council of State will rule
on the legitimacy of the nationalization by Feb. 25 at the
latest, said Wendy van der Sluijs, a spokeswoman for the court
in The Hague. As many as 49 appeals had been filed as of
yesterday as a Feb. 11 deadline approaches.
Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem took control of
SNS Reaal on Feb. 1 after real-estate losses brought the bank to
the brink of collapse. The nationalization included issued
shares and subordinated bonds. The expropriation of subordinated
creditors reduced the rescue costs for the state by about 1
billion euros ($1.4 billion), Dijsselbloem said.
The bailout of SNS Reaal will cost taxpayers 3.7 billion
euros in write-offs and capital injections, and the government
is also providing 6.1 billion euros in loans and guarantees.
Other Dutch banks will pay a one-time levy of 1 billion euros in
2014 to share in the costs of the rescue. In exchange they get
two years’ respite to start paying into a deposit guarantee
fund, Dijsselbloem said.