DEMINOR newsfeed

The VEB and Deminor require explanations to the Dutch State in connection with the sale of Fortis Corporate Insurance

Please choose "French" or "Dutch" as language in order to read the article.

Shareholdersassociations, advisors and lawyers met today in order to discuss the latest developments in the Fortis case

Several press articles report on the existence of negotiations between Belgium and China. The Belgian Government would have given comfort regarding the possibility to claim compensation for Ping An's losses in connection with the Fortis case. This position would influence the decision by Ping An as Fortis' largest shareholder to approve the transactions which are subject to a vote at the extraordinary general meeting (EGM) of Fortis on 11 February 2009 and could therefore influence the outcome of this EGM.

We are deeply worried by those reports. If it appears that compensations or guarantees of any kind would have been given, we consider that it would correspond to a serious violation of the fundamental principle of equal treatment of all Fortis shareholders. We strongly condemn any situation where one shareholder would be privileged above the others, especially under the current circumstances. We therefore request immediate explanations on those negotiations and full disclosure of any such agreement, guarantee, compensation and/or other commitment whatsoever. We also request that the questions asked to the Belgian Government by Ping-An be disclosed, as well as the answers that have been given.

During today's meeting, we also discussed about the forthcoming EGM and the information that has been provided to shareholders over the last few days. All participants deplored the many contradictions, the complexity and the biased nature of the information communicated by Fortis as well as the lack of detailed information on the transactions which is however essential in order to take an informed decision.

As far as the votes are concerned, and in light of the recent developments, each participant confirmed that its previously disclosed position with respect to the transactions remained unchanged.

Finally, we deeply regret and reject the atmosphere that was created by the Government and Fortis around the consequences of the different scenarios, in order to influence the attitude of the Fortis shareholders during the EGM of 11 February 2009. The Government still refuses to involve Fortis shareholders in any discussion. We think it's urgent to reconsider this position.

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ADAF, Deminor, Euroshareholders, De Gier, Lydian, Modrikamen, Test-Achats, VEB & VFB

Fortis: Deminor and VEB have nominated four persons as future directors of Fortis

Deminor and VEB confirm press reports of today that they have nominated four persons as future directors of Fortis N.V. and Fortis N.V./S.A..

The four persons are: Mr. Georges Ugeux (candidate Chairman), Mr. Philippe Casier, Mr. Dirk van Daele and Mr. Jan Zegering Hadders.

These persons were nominated with the support of shareholders holding close to 3% of the outstanding Fortis shares. In addition, they have also received the support of various shareholder groups such as Modrikamen, Test-Achats, VFB, Euroshareholders and ADAF.

The candidates have been carefully selected over the previous weeks for their expertise, independence, and personal motivation and commitment. They collectively bring many years of experience in banking, international financial markets, credit markets (including structured credits), investment banking and corporate governance. Please find attached a short biography or curriculum vitae of the various candidates.

VEB and Deminor believe that the proposed candidates can make a valuable and indispensable contribution to creating and restoring value for Fortis and its shareholders. They are aware that the Board composition may evolve in the future depending on the composition of Fortis' future assets.

Quote of Georges Ugeux

"I was very pleased that the Board candidates accepted the challenge to rebuild Fortis SA/NV. They are, as I am, convinced that Fortis SA/NV has a potential to be revamped in the interest of the shareholders. The Board candidates represent a wide range of business, technical and geographic experience that will be essential to achieve this challenging goal."

Deminor and VEB are open to support other candidates for the Board who can bring complementary expertise and who fulfil other criteria such as independence, personal commitment and proven track record. VEB and Deminor will communicate in due time about the other candidates it will support at the next extraordinary shareholder meeting.

Contact persons:

Deminor

Pierre Nothomb : +32 (2) 674 71 10

VEB

Jan Maarten Slagter : +31 (70) 3130000

Charles Demoulin becomes Deminor Partner

The Deminor partners are pleased to announce you that Charles Demoulin has joined their partnership.

Charles will be mainly in charge of shareholder engagements on behalf of investors in listed companies.

Together with the other directors of the Governance Platform, Charles will actively participate in the execution of engagements with European listed companies on behalf of the Platform's members. Charles was appointed as director of the Governance Platform in November 2007.

He will also be responsible for the shareholder engagements on behalf of the Deminor Active Governance Fund (DAGF), as well as for legal and compliance functions with the DAGF.

Charles' areas of expertise include company law, takeovers and corporate governance at both national and European levels. He will supervise Deminor's contributions to the legislative works and public consultations of national and European institutions.

Before joining Deminor in 1999, Charles had spent two years as a lawyer with the Brussels office of Loeff Claeys Verbeke (Allen & Overy Belgium).

Charles was born in 1973. He holds a Master of Laws from the Université Catholique de Louvain and a postgraduate in Corporate Finance from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven.

Contact: Mr. Pierre Nothomb, Partner

Tel: + 32 (0)2 674 71 10

Email: pierre.nothomb@deminor.com

Websites:

www.deminor.com

www.governanceplatform.com

www.dagfund.com

About Deminor

Deminor is the leading European company focusing on services to investors in Continental-European companies. Our service offering comprises corporate finance, corporate governance & engagement, damage/asset recovery and focused asset management services.

Through our local offices, we are active in Belgium, France, The Netherlands, Luxembourg, Italy and Switzerland. We cover other markets such as Germany from our Brussels office.

Deminor's services cover both listed companies and non-listed (privately-held) companies.

Services to investors in privately held companies

Deminor helps investors in non-listed companies and privately held listed companies to manage their minority stakes. Deminor is the only European company offering a one-stop service to minority investors, ranging from business valuations, legal and governance analysis to negotiating shareholder agreements or complex corporate finance transactions.

Services to institutional investors

Deminor offers focused corporate governance services to institutional investors, helping them to better understand the governance structure of the companies in which they invest and, whenever there are contentious issues, to actively engage with portfolio companies in order to obtain improvements. Engagements can be done on a tailor-made basis or through the Governance Platform.

Deminor also helps institutional investors to recover losses resulting from corporate wrongdoing, misrepresentation or fraud, both in Europe and the United States. Deminor's services are fully comprehensive and allow institutional investors to fully outsource their litigation management and fulfil their fiduciary duty while focusing on their investment activity.

Damage recovery for private investors

Deminor brings together large groups of private investors and set up collective actions. Deminor has successfully defended large groups of private investors in various high-profile European securities actions.

Focused asset management for private and institutional investors

Deminor offers investors the unique opportunity to benefit from value creation resulting from governance change through the Deminor Active Governance Fund (DAGF). DAGF invests in undervalued listed companies with governance weaknesses with the aim of unlocking value through governance change

Deminor update the press about the NBB case

Update of Deminor analysis: Deminor has briefed the press about the status of the BNB case.

Click below for a copy of the slides presented to the press.

Deminor intervenes on behalf of minority shareholders of Quinsa

Following the recent transaction between AmBev (NYSE: ABV) and Beverage Associates Corp. (BAC) leading to the transfer of full control over Quinsa (NYSE: LQU - Reuters: QUIN.LU and QUINp.LU) to AmBev, Deminor has been asked to intervene on behalf of a large institutional shareholder of Quinsa. Several other minority shareholders of Quinsa have already expressed their support for Deminor's intervention.

Please find below our press release of October 24, 2006.

Test-Aankoop and Deminor: new open letter to Fortis

Their action already has the support of more than 3,000 private investors.

Since the capital operation of 26 June Fortis remains silent notwithstanding the persistent questions of the investors for more transparency. Test-Aankoop and Deminor were informed earlier today of the press release of Fortis stating that its Board of Directors will convene on 11 July.

Meanwhile there are serious rumours in the press that Mr. Jean-Paul Votron would resign. A possible resignation of Mr. Jean-Paul Votron would not change the analysis and conclusions of Test-Aankoop and Deminor. The policy of Fortis cannot be reduced to the acts of one person, but is the common responsibility of the complete Management Committee, even authorized and approved by the all members of the Board of Directors.

Hence, Test-Aankoop and Deminor are forced to urge the Board of Directors to convene an extraordinary shareholders' meeting.

Both organizations are pleased to have already the support of more than 3,000 private investors. Of course, the possibility for subscriptions still exists for Fortis-investors with Test-Aankoop (only private investors) and Deminor.

Fortis: press release

Please choose "French" or "Dutch" as language in order to read the article.

Deminor and Test-Achats react to the board of directors' meeting of Fortis

Please choose "French" or "Dutch" as language in order to read the article.

Test-Achats and Deminor will meet the Belgian market regulator (CBFA) regarding FORTIS next Friday July 18

Next Friday, July 18, Test-Achats and Deminor will meet Mr. Jean-Paul Servais, president of the CBFA, the Belgian market regulator, after they had already submitted the Fortis case to the CBFA on July 3.

Test-Achats and Deminor addressed today a letter to the CBFA in which they ask clarification about certain issues, like the communication of Fortis as stock quoted company, the communication about the financial position of Fortis (and the additional issues of financial instruments, including the already announced non-dilutive instruments for an amount of EUR 2 billion), and the equal treatment of all shareholders in the framework of capital increases.

Test-Achats and Deminor hope that the CBFA will contribute to receiving a prompt and complete answer on these questions in order to restore investors' confidence.

Test-Achats and Deminor expect in any case that the CBFA will invite Fortis to more transparent communication and to take precautionary measures like the calling of an extraordinary shareholders' meeting.

Fortis-investors can still register at Test-Aankoop and Deminor:

www.test-achats.be or www.deminor.be.

Fortis - Communication "Stand Alone"

Please find below the project 'Stand Alone' presented this afternoon by Deminor, M. Modrikamen and other specialists in the financial and banking sector.

The initiators of the alternative plan for Fortis request a public debate

Please choose "French" or "Dutch" as language in order to read the article.

Deminor files court action to obtain interim measures at the level of Fortis NV/SA and Fortis Bank NV/SA

Please choose "French" or "Dutch" as language in order to read the article.

Deminor and Test-Achats react to the rescue plan

Please choose "French" or "Dutch" as language in order to read the article.

Fortis press release - 2 February 2009

Please choose "French" or "Dutch" as language in order to read the press release.

Test-Achats and Deminor link the forces

Test-Achats gathers Fortis particular investors in order to defend their interests and requests the expertise and the assistance of Deminor.

Please choose "French" or "Dutch" as language in order to read the article.

Fortis - open letter - 30 july 2008

In its letter of last July 17, Fortis confirms to Test Achats and Deminor that their request of an Extraordinary General Meeting of the shareholders will be treated. Test Achats and Deminor consequently deplore the remarks of the new CEO, Mr Verwilst, in the Dutch-speaking press where he said not to be in favour of such a request. The two organizations think that with such remarks concerning points of the competence of the Board of Directors, the CEO influences the sovereign decision-making process of the Board of Directors. It thus prevents an effective debate between the members of the Council in connection with a convocation of an Extraordinary General Meeting. For these reasons, Test Achats and Deminor send today an open letter to the members of the Board of Directors. You will find this letter in appendix.

Test Achats and Deminor demand a parliamentary investigation into the nationalisation of Fortis and the capital increase of Dexia

Please choose "French" or "Dutch" as language in order to read the press release.

Fortis press release - 5 August 2008

For more than a month, Deminor, Test-Achats and VEB have been contesting the quality and reliability of the information released by Fortis. The board of directors' proposition about organising informal information meetings comes too late and will not enable to restore the trust between Fortis shareholders, management and the board of directors. Three weeks after the capital increase, the departure of Mr Votron and the change of position of Mr Mittler do not reassure the shareholders about the strategy maintained by the board of directors.

Deminor, Test-Achats and VEB call for an optimal information exchange to the shareholders and for a strengthening of the shareholders' position. The refusal of convening of an extraordinary general meeting by Fortis is a sign of disrespect for the shareholders' rights and their interests. The extraordinary general meeting is a major formal tool which allows shareholders to hear the board of directors.

To allow shareholders to validate the board of directors and the management's choices, Deminor, Test-Achats and VEB have opened their websites so that shareholders who wish the convening of an extraordinary general meeting can register their name and number of shares held. Indeed, shareholders who represent together 10% of the shares can convene an extraordinary general meeting and set the agenda. When enough shareholders are registered, Deminor, Test-Achats and VEB will make the necessary arrangements to convene an extraordinary general meeting and to set the agenda.

There are three major reasons to convene an extraordinary general meeting.

Firstly, Fortis executives have to justify their responsibility in the events which led to emergency measures taken and implemented on the 26th June 2008 without participation of common shareholders.

Then, the shareholders should receive the possibility to discuss with the board of directors about the future of Fortis and the restoration of trust in the company.

Finally, the extraordinary general meeting has to open a debate about the corporate governance of Fortis. This governance and the Fortis structure should be modernised. The board composition and its power allocation, the strengthening of the control by the shareholders, the change within the remuneration policy and the simplification of the exercise of the voting rights are matters which need to be discussed.

Deminor, Test-Achats and VEB strive to set up an extraordinary general meeting in the course of the month November 2008.

The registration websites are the following:

www.deminor.com

www.test-achats.be

www.veb.net/fortis

Contact details

Deminor

Pierre Nothomb

Tel. +32-2-674.71.10

Test-Achats
Ivo Mechels
Tel. +32-2-542 33 01

VEB

Niels Lemmers
Tel. +31-70-313 00 00

Deminor and Test-Achats examine all recourses in the Fortis case

Please choose "French" or "Dutch" as language in order to read the press release.

Lehman Brothers : press release - 2 October 2008

Deminor is forming a European Creditor Committee with the objective of representing European Lehman Brothers creditors and recovering their assets from Lehman Brother's restructuring and from financial intermediaries who distributed Lehman Brothers' financial instruments in Europe.

Over the last couple of years, Lehman Brothers Treasury Co. B.V issued bonds and structured products in various European countries for an estimated total amount of 34 billions USD. These bonds and products were unconditionally and irrevocably guaranteed by its parent company Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. Following Lehman Brothers' Holdings Inc. financial troubles, both the parent company and its European subsidiary were granted protection against their creditors on September 15 and September 19, respectively. As a result, many investors who had purchased these Lehman Brothers bonds and structured products are currently exposed to substantial losses on a pan-European scale.

Following the suspension of payments, numerous investors in Lehman Brothers products contacted Deminor with the request of federating Lehman Brothers European creditors and assisting them to recover their losses.

Many of the financial instruments issued by Lehman Brothers were placed with retail investors through the networks of European retail banks. The Lehman Brothers financial instruments were repackaged as traditional savings or insurance products of the European retail banks and were not sold as corporate bonds with risk exposure to a highly leveraged American investment bank. In many cases, the European banks seem to have made misrepresentations about the risk profile and guarantees attached to these instruments when promoting them with their retail clients. In various cases reported to Deminor, basic rules relating to risk spreading have not been observed. Moreover, the banks have not kept their clients informed about the worsening risk profile of Lehman Brothers throughout 2007 and 2008. European-wide MiFid rules seem to have been violated on a massive scale.

Deminor will group European bondholders and owners of structured products (including insurance products) issued by Lehman Brothers Treasury Co. B.V. Deminor will start immediate action in order to safeguard and protect the rights of these investors within the framework of the insolvency proceedings of Lehman Brothers Treasury Co. B.V. in the Netherlands and Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc in the USA. Deminor will also file actions against those intermediaries who have distributed bonds and structured products on the European market and have failed to comply with MiFid requirements. Investors can register on-line and input their transaction data through Deminor's web site.

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Contact Person:

Erik Bomans
Tel. : +32.2.674.71.10

About Deminor

Deminor is a company specialising in investor protection services for European investors. Throughout its local offices in various European countries, Deminor assists investors in protecting their rights and recovering their assets. Deminor also offers corporate governance and active engagement services to institutional investors. It manages a focused corporate governance fund (DAGF) on behalf of private and institutional investors. It offers corporate finance services to minority shareholders in non-listed companies. For more information about our services and pending cases, please visit our web site www.deminor.com.

Lehman Brothers - Message in the German magazine "Wirtschaftswoche"

Please choose "German" as language in order to read the article.

Lehman Brothers - Webcast

During this presentation, Deminor will comment its analysis and the concrete actions for investors who bought financial products of Lehman Brothers through Belgian Citibank and Deutsche Bank.

If you wish to follow the press conference through the webcast, please click on the link below and introduce your name and email address to enter it.

http://pulse.companywebcast.nl/Playerv1_0/default.aspx?id=2211

LHSP - Press Release 18 May 2007

The criminal trial starts on May 21, 2007.

More than 11.000 former shareholders of the bankrupt company LHSP have registered with Deminor and with the consumer organization Test-Achats aiming to recover the damages suffered from all possible responsible parties. Registrations have been closed on March 30, 2007.

Registrations were open from November 2000 until June 2002 and are closed as from 30 March 2007.

As from 5 January 2007, registrations have been re-opened, provided investors met the required conditions and criteria. For legal and administrative reasons, the list of plaintiffs has been closed on Friday 30 March 2007.

The LHSP trial in Belgium will start on 21 May 2007. Therefore, Deminor and Test-Achats have organized a Press Conference on 18 May 2007, to update the media on the status of the case, the history of our intervention, and the damages claimed by the 13.368 investors represented by Deminor and Test-Achats.

Please choose "French" or "Dutch" as language in order to read a copy of the press conference.

Deminor proposes an alternative list of Fortis directors under the chairmanship of Mr. Georges Ugeux

The list proposed by Deminor forms a credible alternative towards the list proposed by the company.

Deminor already previously proposed to vote against the candidates proposed by the current board of directors of Fortis, under the chairmanship of Mr. Etienne Davignon, with the exception of Mr. Louis Cheung (for whom Deminor proposed to abstain).

Deminor has now proposed an alternative list of directors and demands that this list be submitted to a shareholder vote at an extraordinary shareholders' meeting. For more information about the proposed candidates and their CV's, please read our press release of November 28, 2008 (see below).

The list has already received the support of VEB and has been welcomed favourably by various important shareholders of Fortis.

Deminor presents its study concerning the dividend policy

Deminor presents the results of the study concerning the dividend policy at Belgian SMEs.

Please choose "French" of "Dutch" as language in order to read the article.

Deminor updates its position on the Fortis case after the court hearings

Deminor explains its analysis and demands and prepares the EGMs of December 1-2, 2008.

For a copy of the slides of our press conference, please click on the link below.

Lehman Brothers product: Deminor analyse banking consultations

Please choose "German" as language in order to read the article.

KBC Bank and Deminor reach amicable agreement on CDOs

Brussels, 17 September 2009

Through an open and constructive dialogue, KBC Bank and Deminor have reached an amicable settlement in relation to the markdowns incurred by Deminor clients on CDOs sold by KBC Bank. The some 40 private banking clients and companies represented by Deminor have unanimously accepted KBC Bank's proposal, thus definitively closing the settlement case opened by Deminor in February 2009.

The group of Deminor clients had invested in various CDOs sold by KBC, primarily the junior or investor tranches that were marked down on account of the credit crisis. KBC Bank and Deminor started negotiations in March 2009 and reached an agreement in principle in August. The compensation offered varies depending on the specific facts of each case. Deminor's clients unanimously accepted the agreement at the start of September.

In reaching agreement, KBC and the group of Deminor clients have brought closure to the dispute. Both parties will refrain from any further comment on the contents of the settlements involved. Furthermore, Deminor will not represent any other clients in cases relating to CDO investments sold by KBC.

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Contacts:

KBC Bank:
Viviane Huybrecht, General Manager Group Communication/Company Spokesperson KBC Group
pressofficekbc@kbc.be
Tel.: + 32-2-429.85.45

Deminor:

Erik Bomans (Partner)
erik.bomans@deminor.com
Tel.: + 32-2-674.71.10

Stefan Hertogs (Senior Associate)
stefan.hertogs@deminor.com
Tel.: + 32-2-674.71.10

Fortis case: Misleading information

Deminor takes note of the recent decision of the Dutch Market Authority (Autoriteit Financiële Markten or AFM) that condemns Fortis (now Ageas) once more for violation of the Dutch law on financial supervision.

This decision of the AFM relates to the communication by Fortis on September 21, 2007 regarding the potential impact of its exposure to subprime investments on the profit and loss accounts. The same information was included in the prospectus issued by Fortis in the context of the rights issue of more than €13 billion in September and October 2007.

In its press release of today, the AFM states that, in the Fortis press release of September 21, 2007 as well as in the prospectus, an amount of €20 million is mentioned as the expected additional impact on the profit and loss accounts for FY 2007 if the subprime severity would deteriorate by a further 20%. Fortis does not give any indication on the nature and size of the exposure to subprime investments. In addition, the press release does not give any explanation on how Fortis has come to the calculation of that amount nor on what Fortis means by a 20% deterioration. By only mentioning a significantly low impact of €20 million, without providing explanations regarding the calculation of that figure, the AFM fears that investors have been misled. The AFM comes to the conclusion that the investors could not fully assess the risks arising from the indirect subprime investments of Fortis and their potential impact on the value of Fortis in the long term. As such, Fortis withheld important price sensitive information from (potential) investors.

Following the first decision of the AFM earlier this year which already imposed a fine on Fortis and the report by the Dutch experts that was published on June 16, 2010, this new decision of the AFM as well as the facts and the argumentation on which it is based once more confirm and reinforce Deminor's own analysis of Fortis' communication during the period preceding the dismantling of the group.

At the end of 2009, Deminor came to the conclusion that during this period of time Fortis' communication had been misleading on several material aspects, including its subprime exposure. Deminor therefore decided to launch a procedure against Fortis before the commercial court of Brussels.

The purpose of this procedure is to claim compensation for the losses suffered by investors due to the misleading information disclosed by Fortis during the period of time from the official announcement of the takeover on ABN Amro at the end of May 2007 until the dismantling of the group at the beginning of October 2008.

The group around Deminor includes more than 4,000 persons and consists of both private and institutional investors.

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Contact:

Charles Demoulin
Tel +32 2 674 71 10

Deminor webcast: Status of the Madoff case

This webcast will be online on Tuesday October 20, 2009 at 10:30 AM.

Go to the webcast "Deminor: Status of the Madoff case"

BNB - Action for annulment of the law of 3 April 2009

Deminor and several private shareholders of the National Bank of Belgium (NBB) have instituted an action for the annulment of the law of 3 April 2009. This law radically modifies the rules governing the distribution of revenues and profits of the NBB in order to improve the financial position of the Belgian State to the detriment of the private shareholders of the NBB.

With this law, the Belgian State unilaterally imposes fundamental changes to basic principles that have been governing the partnership between the Belgian State and the private shareholders with respect to the NBB. Those rules had been in place for several decades. They are the cornerstone of this partnership.

The Council of State had already raised the question as to whether the new mechanism established by the law of 3 April 2009 would adequately remunerate the special situation of the State both with respect to the National Bank and within the NBB, without granting any excessive advantage to the State as compared to the other shareholders of the Bank. Unfortunately, the Belgian government did not give enough time to the Council of State to further investigate this essential aspect of the law. Based on their own analysis of the law, Deminor and its lawyers come to the conclusion that this law actually grants excessive and disproportionate advantages to the Belgian State to the detriment of the private shareholders of the Bank. This leads to a breach (expropriation) of legitimate and fundamental rights of the private shareholders. Other violations of basic constitutional principles in Belgium and of provisions of the Treaty establishing the European Community have been identified which justify the annulment of the law.

The law of 3 April 2009 also provides for a serious violation of the voting rights of the private shareholders of the Bank. The law has unilaterally imposed an amendment to the articles of association of the NBB while such amendment should have been submitted to all shareholders' approval.

Deminor and its clients are resolute in fighting against the violations of their legitimate rights by the Belgian State - of which the law of 3 April 2009 is the last manifestation - with the objective for the State to appropriate as much profits and reserves from the NBB as possible to the detriment of the other shareholders of the Bank.

For the action for annulment of the law, Deminor and its clients will be advised by Mr Pierre de Bandt and Mr Muriel Vanderhelst, from the law firm De Bandt Keustermans & Van den Brande.

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Personne de contact :
Charles Demoulin
Tel.: +32 2 674 71 10
E-Mail: charles.demoulin@deminor.com

Joost J. Kramer (29) has been appointed as new Manager of Deminor Nederland

Amsterdam, Tuesday 1 December 2009 - As from 1 December 2009, Mr Joost J. Kramer (29) has been appointed as new manager of Deminor Nederland. Joost Kramer is an experienced lawyer with an MSc in Management of the University of Nyenrode. He has been a lawyer for three years with Houthoff Buruma N.V. and consequently corporate counsel with Koninklijke Ahold N.V.

Joost Kramer will coordinate and develop different activities of Deminor in the Netherlands together with Bernard Thuysbaert, partner of Deminor International and director of Deminor Nederland.

Deminor has the ambition to further expand its activities and team in the Netherlands considering the increasing number of mandates regarding:

(i) Advise on questions of shareholders of non-listed companies,

(ii) Corporate governance research and engagement assistance of listed companies, and

(iii) Collective damage claims of investors.

Mr Otto B. Linker (58), who was appointed in March as director ad interim and recently resigned, will keep supporting Deminor in the Netherlands as an ‘of counsel' advisor.

Persons of contact:

Deminor Nederland (Amsterdam):

Joost Kramer
Manager Deminor Nederland
Tel. + 31 (0)20 3012 340
Email: joost.kramer@deminor.com

Bernard Thuysbaert
Director Deminor Nederland
Tel. + 32 475 366 382
Email: bernard.thuysbaert@deminor.com

Websites:
www.deminor.com
www.governanceplatform.com
www.dagfund.com

Download:

Deminor Press Release Joost J.Kramer (29) has been appointed as new Manager of Deminor Nederland

One Year post Madoff

One year after the Madoff scandal was revealed, European investors have formed a pan-European syndicate aimed at recovering their losses suffered on funds with Madoff exposure. Deminor's analysis demonstrates that the Madoff feeder funds have been set up in breach of European rules, that investors have been misled and that the service providers failed to perform their contractual and legal duties. More than ever, Deminor's clients are determined to recover their losses from the responsible institutions. Investors cannot rely on actions undertaken by third parties, such as the US trustee or the funds' liquidators, if they want to benefit from a maximum recovery.

A. An international and diversified syndicate of more than 1.000 investors

As of today, Deminor represents more than 1.000 investors who have invested in the so-called "Madoff feeder-funds". These investors are mainly from Europe (The Netherlands, France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland and Belgium) and South-America (Argentina and Uruguay). They are individual or institutional investors, representing altogether losses of approximately EUR 400 million. Losses per investor range between EUR 5.000 to EUR 30.000.000.

Erik Bomans, a Deminor partner : "investors must understand the need to join forces in order to form a common representative front against the involved institutions' obstinate refusal to compensate losses despite clear evidence that they breached their legal obligations. We believe that only a collective representative investor action can lead to a successful outcome".

B. Achievements since December 2008 and update of legal analysis

Since December 2008, Deminor has been principally active on the following investment funds whose assets have been entrusted to and managed by Bernard Madoff Investment Securities LLC ("BMIS"): Luxalpha, Luxinvest, Thybo International, Plaza, Herald Lux, Kingate, Hermes and Fairfield. Court or regulatory actions have been taken in Luxembourg, Monaco and the British Virgin Islands. Proceedings in the Netherlands are being prepared.

Deminor has successfully undertaken pre-trial discovery actions before the Luxembourg courts in order to receive further information on the relationship between the involved financial institutions and BMIS. Documents revealed that Madoff cumulated all important functions and that there was no appropriate control mechanisms put in place by the designated custodians (i.e. UBS and HSBC) on BMIS's activities. Investors have been misled about the true nature of their investments since the prospectus has not mentioned essential information, and the legal guarantees attached to UCITS funds have been breached.

Erik Bomans: "we have serious indications that UBS and/or Ernst and Young have not correctly informed the Luxembourg financial authorities about the delegation of the custody to BMIS, as they were supposed to do in accordance with the Luxembourg regulations. Our analysis indicates that UBS and/or Ernst Young made materially wrong statements to the Luxembourg financial authorities by failing to mention that BMIS was UBS's sub-custodians for the Madoff "feeder funds"".

Following these pre-trial actions and the completion of its analysis, Deminor filed in October 2009 an action for damages against several UBS entities in Luxembourg. Legal actions against HSBC, Citco, Ernst & Young and PwC are in the process of being finalised and will be filed shortly before the appropriate courts.

Deminor wrote at several occasion to the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier ("CSSF"), the Luxembourg financial regulatory authority. Deminor recently demanded that the CSSF sanctions UBS as investment manager of Luxalpha for violation of Luxembourg law. CSSF has not replied so far to Deminor's arguments.

Erik Bomans: "We strongly believe that BMIS did act as investment manager, and not only as custodian and broker. Facts demonstrate that UBS knew that BMIS was doing more than the execution of orders. The delegation to BMIS was therefore in breach of the applicable Luxembourg and European laws, since the functions of investment management and custody cannot be delegated to the same entity. The set-up of the fund was illegal from the very beginning". Deminor urges the CSSF to withdraw UBS's licence as investment manager in Luxembourg.

Despite clear evidence that they breached their contractual and legal obligations, the major international institution which acted as custodians, investment managers or auditors of the funds have so far failed to recognize their responsibilities. Investors need to file actions on the merits to claim damages before the appropriate jurisdictions, as a "sit back and wait" attitude may lead to an exclusion from any recovery and is not likely to force these institutions to change their current attitude.

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Contact person:

Erik Bomans
Deminor International SCRL
+32-2-674.71.10
erik.bomans@deminor.com

Citibank Belgium and Deminor reach agreement on a settlement offer for Lehman Brothers notes

The agreement provides Citibank Belgium customers with an immediate opportunity to recover a significant part of their investment in notes issued and guaranteed by Lehman Brothers in the context of an overall settlement.

Brussels, 7 January 2010 - Citibank Belgium and Deminor announced today that they have reached an agreement offering a solution to Citibank Belgium customers who subscribed to notes issued and guaranteed by Lehman Brothers and distributed through Citibank Belgium in the context of an overall settlement. The settlement offer includes, subject to certain conditions, a cash payment of 65% of the face value of the Lehman Brothers Notes to which Citibank Belgium customers subscribed through Citibank Belgium. In addition, clients will be offered the opportunity to place the amount of the cash payment in a blocked 3-year Time Deposit account with automatic capitalisation of interest with Citibank Belgium, yielding a 5.3% gross annual interest rate. The settlement offer also provides for a general waiver of claims against amongst others Citibank Belgium and a transfer of the Lehman Brothers Notes to Citibank Belgium or an affiliate. The settlement offer is available for acceptance from 7 January and will remain outstanding until 18 February at 5pm and will be made by direct mailing to all eligible customers.

Erik Bomans, Deminor: "The 65% upfront payment and the additional right to place the amount on a 3-year time deposit yielding 5.3% annually leads to a gross recovery ratio (not accounting for withholding tax) in excess of 75% of the total investment over three years. Deminor believes that the agreement reached with Citibank Belgium offers a fair settlement to the Citibank Belgium clients who subscribed to the Lehman Brothers Notes. Deminor therefore recommends that its clients accept it."

Guy Roosen, member of the Citibank Belgium's board of directors says "our customers' interests have always been of paramount concern to Citibank Belgium. It is now clear that the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy process will be lengthy and complicated. Therefore, Citibank Belgium has explored options to further support its customers. We have had lengthy but constructive discussions with Deminor, leading to today's settlement offer".

The settlement was concluded following the recommendation of Belgium's Minister of Economy, Vincent Van Quickenborne who, from the outset, appealed to Citibank Belgium to come up with a settlement for their customers holding Lehman Brothers notes as this would help avoid a long and uncertain legal procedure.
In this respect Minister Van Quickenborne contributed to encouraging Citibank's consideration of a number of alternative solutions resulting in this agreement with Deminor.

Since the unprecedented and unexpected collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008, Citibank Belgium has taken several initiatives to support its customers. Citibank Belgium provided timely information on the development of the Lehman Brothers insolvency proceedings and provided solutions to customers in those exceptional instances where Citibank Belgium's policies and procedures were not followed to the highest standards. More recently Citibank Belgium, at its own expense, also filed claims on behalf of its customers in the Lehman Brothers U.S. insolvency proceedings.

Today, Citibank Belgium and Deminor are proposing a solution that is beneficial to all parties involved. It seeks to remove for Citibank Belgium customers in Belgium the uncertainty brought about by lengthy and complex legal proceedings.

José de Peñaranda, CEO of Citibank Belgium: "Our customers have shown great understanding and patience during this period of hardship and we sincerely thank them for that. We also want to express our gratitude to our employees and our independent agents for their support and commitment to our bank".

Deminor represents a group of more than 500 clients who subscribed to Lehman Brothers Notes through Citibank Belgium. Since September, 2008, Deminor has been at the forefront representing investors in connection with their subscription to Lehman Brothers Notes. In May, 2009, Deminor initiated a lawsuit before the Commercial Court of Brussels with the support of the Monard-d'Hulst law firm.

Erik Bomans, Deminor: "It is important for us to see that Citibank Belgium has shown a genuine concern about the difficult financial situation of their clients having subscribed to Lehman Brothers Notes and that they have been open to seeking a satisfactory solution for these clients. We are pleased with the agreement we have reached with Citibank Belgium to make a settlement offer to its customers which compares favorably with compensation offered in similar cases."

All eligible Citibank Belgium customers holding Lehman Brothers Notes will be advised shortly on how to proceed to benefit from this settlement offer.

Disclaimer

The precise legal terms and conditions of the settlement offer are as set out in the documentation that the eligible Citibank Belgium customers will receive from Citibank Belgium by direct mailing.

Media contacts:

Citibank Belgium
Lars Seynaeve
0495/599 801

Deminor
Erik Bomans
Partner
02/674 71 10

Misleading information Deminor sues Fortis SA/NV

As already announced in December 2009, Deminor launches today a procedure against Fortis SA/NV for having violated its obligations as a listed company with respect to the information it has to communicate to the public. The purpose of this procedure, which is launched before the Court of commerce of Brussels, is to claim damages for the investors who have hired Deminor.

Deminor believes that, in particular since the announcement of the launch of the takeover of ABN Amro up until the dismantling of the group in the autumn 2008, Fortis' communication was misleading on several material aspects, including on its subprime exposure, its dividend policy, its liquidity, its solvency and the consequences of the acquisition of ABN Amro. During this period of time, investors decided to buy and/or hold Fortis shares based on misleading information from Fortis.

For instance, while launching its capital increase in September 2007 in order to raise more than 13 billion euro in the market (the largest share issue that ever took place in Belgium), Fortis convinced numerous shareholders and investors to subscribe to the new shares by disclosing misleading information in the prospectus.

For these persons, losses materialized in the significant fall of the share price during this period of time which largely exceeded the overall downturn on stock markets in general and the fall of the bank index in particular.

The procedure was launched today on behalf of more than 2600 plaintiffs. Other parties will join the procedure in the coming weeks.

The damages claimed for the Deminor clients will depend on criteria such as the number of shares purchased and/or held during the aforementioned period of time. At this stage, Deminor estimates that those damages amount to at least 4 euro per share, or even more depending on the date of purchase/subscription among other criteria.

In this procedure, Deminor and its clients are advised by Ms Catherine Houssa and Mr Cédric Guyot from the law firm CMS DeBacker in Brussels.

* * *

Person of contact :

Charles Demoulin
Tel +32-2-674-71-10

Master Finance - Dominion

Please choose "French" or "Dutch" in order to read the press release.

Lehman Brothers Citibank - More than 98,6% of our clients accepted the settlement agreement

More than 98,6% of Deminor's clients have entered into the settlement agreement negotiated between Citibank Belgium and Deminor in the framework of the Lehman Brothers case. Deminor will no longer be active on that case with regards to Citibank Belgium.

Deminor continues to actively represent investors in Belgium (clients of Deutsche Bank), the Netherlands (clients of Wijs & Van Oostveen), or Italy (mainly clients of Intesa Sanpaolo and Unicredit groups). Deminor will continue to intervene in these cases in order to recover the losses suffered by its clients.

1. Following the end of the settlement period which took place on this Thursday 18 February 2010 at 5 PM, more than 98,6% of Deminor's clients have accepted the settlement offer which has been negotiated between Citibank Belgium and Deminor in the framework of the Lehman Brothers case. More than 68% have accepted the opportunity to place the amount of the payment in a 3 years' time deposit account yielding at 5.3% gross annual interest rate.

As previously indicated, Deminor will no longer be active on that case with regards to Citibank Belgium.

Deminor has been mandated by more than 500 Citibank Belgium's clients.

2. Since October 2008, Deminor has been at the forefront representing investors hit by the collapse of Lehman Brothers, by federating more than 1.100 persons in Belgium, the Netherlands and Italy.

Deminor continues to actively represent in Belgium clients of Deutsche Bank who have no obtained so far appropriate damages for their losses. Deminor served a writ of summons against Deutsche Bank before the

Commercial Court of Brussels in July 2009, and is closely monitoring the evolution of the investigation initiated by the Public Prosecutor of Brussels against Deutsche Bank and/or its managers on that case.

In the Netherlands, Deminor has federated a group of around 375 investors who are clients of Wijs & Van Oostveen, and is about to initiate a legal action on the merits against that financial intermediary before the court of Amsterdam in order to recover the losses suffered by its clients on their Lehman Brothers' financial products.

In Italy, Deminor has been contacted by a substantial number of investors, and is currently considering to start a legal action on a short-term basis against several financial intermediaries, such as Banca Fideuram (Intesa Sanpaolo group) and Unicredit.

* * *

Contact :

Edouard Fremault

+32 2 674 71 10

edouard.fremault@deminor.com

Fortis case - Misleading information Decision of the Dutch Autoriteit Financiële Markten

Please choose "French" or "Dutch" in order to read the press release.

Fortis : Deminor reacts to the report of experts appointed by the Dutch Enterprise Chamber

Deminor takes notice of today's release of the report of experts appointed by the Dutch Entreprise Chamber on November 24, 2008.

The 581 pages report contains a detailed description of Fortis' deteriorating financial situation from its decision to participate to the consortium's takeover bid on ABN Amro to the dismantling of the group end September / early October, 2008. The report covers a long period (from July, 2007 to early October, 2008) and a broad range of issues, including financial communication, solvency and liquidity management, and the dismantling transactions.

The report is important for Deminor clients' action that was initiated against Fortis in January, 2010 before the Commercial Court of Brussels. The purpose of this law suit is to recover Deminor's clients' losses resulting from Fortis' misrepresentation of its financial situation during the relevant period, which coincides with the period covered by the experts report.

While describing in detail the factual circumstances that have brought Fortis to the crisis situation of end September / early October 2008, the experts do not hesitate to express their fierce criticism of Fortis' lack of management of its deteriorating situation and its failure to timely communicate its financial problems (including sub-prime exposure and solvency and liquidity issues) to the market. In general, the tone and contents of the experts' report is very critical of Fortis' and its management's conduct during the relevant period.

Deminor therefore concludes that the experts' report confirms its analysis, i.e. that Fortis misled investors 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. 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.
Deminor will communicate in further detail about the experts' report in the next few days.

Various institutional investors have joined Deminor's group action before the Commercial Court of Brussels and many are still in the process of joining. Given the publication of the experts' report, Deminor had decided to extend the deadline for participation to its action to July 31st, 2010.

Deminor is looking forward to the report of the experts appointed by the Commercial Court of Brussels.

* * *

Contact person:

Erik Bomans
Tel +32-2-674-71-10

erik.bomans@deminor.com

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