The claims arise out of the communication by Fortis since the formal launch of the takeover on ABN Amro (on or around May 29, 2007) up until the dismantling of the group in the early days of October of 2008 which allegedly deprived Fortis of most of its assets. The claims allege that Fortis’ communication throughout the Relevant Period was continuously misleading on several material aspects, including its subprime exposure, its liquidity and solvency, its commitments not to launch dilutive share issues and to maintain the dividend policy, and the consequences of the takeover of ABN Amro. Based on this misleading information, investors bought and/or held Fortis shares. Allegedly, they suffered losses as a result of the significant fall of the stock price after the market became aware of the true situation of Fortis.

On July 13, 2018, the Amsterdam Court of Appeals officially declared the Fortis settlement entered into between Ageas, Stichting FORsettlement and the claimant organizations (i.e. Vereniging van Effectenbezitters, Deminor, Stichting Investor Claims Against Fortis (SICAF) and Stichting FortisEffect) binding.