Ageas announces next step in Fortis settlement procedure: public hearing

On 24 March 2017, the Amsterdam Court of Appeal will organise a public hearing as part of the procedure to declare the Fortis settlement agreement of 14 March 2016 binding.

On March 14, 2016, Ageas and the claimants' organisations, Deminor, Stichting FortisEffect, Stichting Investor Claims Against Fortis (SICAF), and Dutch shareholder Association VEB (the "Parties") announced that they had reached a settlement agreement with respect to all civil proceedings related to the former Fortis group for the events in 2007 and 2008 (see press release 014).

Ageas agreed to pay a global amount of EUR 1,204 million to 'Eligible Shareholders', in accordance with the terms of the settlement agreement, without admitting any wrongdoing. On 23 May 2016, the Parties filed a request with the Amsterdam Court of Appeal to declare the settlement binding based on the Dutch Act on Collective Settlement of Mass Claims (Wet Collectieve Afwikkeling Massaschade, "WCAM") (see press release 037).

The Amsterdam Court of Appeal has now fixed 24 March 2017 as the date for a public hearing as part of the WCAM procedure to declare the Fortis settlement agreement of 14 March 2016 binding. Although attendance is not mandatory to preserve all rights in the settlement, potentially interested parties can register to attend the hearing at the Amsterdam Court of Appeal.

Formalities for attending can be found on FORsettlement.com. Potential beneficiaries will be notified of the hearing by letter or e-mail if their contact details are known to Ageas and/or the claimants' organisations mentioned above. Furthermore, there will be a general notification of the hearing via publications in various print and online media.

Next steps:

Following this public hearing the Court will decide on whether the settlement is binding. This decision is expected by mid-2017.

Upon notification that the settlement is binding, potential beneficiaries will be able to submit claim forms for compensation with the claims administrator for a period of twelve months. Alternatively, during a period to be determined by the Court, potential beneficiaries will be given the opportunity to opt-out of the settlement.

If the opt-out ratio is below the 5% threshold, the settlement agreement will be binding to all Eligible shareholders. If the opt-out ratio exceeds 5%, Ageas has the right (but not the obligation) to terminate the settlement agreement without settling.

Questions?

More information about the settlement and action to be taken by potential beneficiaries can be found on the website FORsettlement.com. Documents relating to the case will also be available on the Court's website:  www.rechtspraak.nl/uitspraken-en-nieuws/bekende-rechtszaken.

Questions can be submitted via the dedicated mailbox: info@forsettlement.com  or via toll free call centre phone numbers:

Ageas:

• Belgium: 0800 26 83 2
• The Netherlands: +31 30 25 25 359
• International: +32 (0)2 557 59 00

Claimants' organisations:

• Deminor: +32 (0)2 674 71 33 or drs@deminor.com
• VEB The Netherlands: +31 70 313 00 00
• FortisEffect: +31 (0)6 45 32 45 88 or info@fortiseffect.nl

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, Italy, Portugal, Turkey, China, Malaysia, India, Thailand, Vietnam 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 40,000 people and reported annual inflows close to EUR 30 billion in 2015 (all figures at 100%).