BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Belgian prosecutors have dropped their case against former directors of Fortis, 10 years after the Belgian-Dutch bank’s collapse during the global financial crisis.

FILE PHOTO: Belgian-Dutch financial services group Fortis Chief Executive Herman Verwilst and Chairman of the Board Maurice Lippens (R) attend a group's information session for shareholders in Brussels August 20, 2008. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir

Brussels prosecutors said that they had decided not to pursue charges against seven ex-directors because it had not found sufficient proof that they had wilfully given over-optimistic information to shareholders.

“If we want to prove fraud then we need to show they knowingly attached too low a risk to the sub-primes, in other words were too positive... It is difficult to say that they should have known better,” said prosecutor Ine Van Wymersch.

She noted that Belgian insurer Ageas (AGES.BR), the legal successor to Fortis, was set to pay shareholders 1.3 billion euros by way of compensation.

Part of the reason for the pursuit of the ex-directors was to secure damages for Fortis shareholders who had lost their money.

Seven ex-directors, including former chairman Maurice Lippens and former CEO Jean-Paul Votron, were accused in 2013 of misleading investors during Fortis’s purchase of part of Dutch lender ABN AMRO and before its 2008 collapse.

Allegations by the prosecutors revolved around whether communications to investors about Fortis’s exposure to U.S. sub-prime assets were insufficient or too late, such as at the time of a capital increase when Fortis bought part of ABN AMRO.

The seven would have been the first in Belgium to face trial over banking failures during the crisis, which also forced bailouts for Franco-Belgian group Dexia (DEXI.BR) and Belgian company KBC (KBC.BR).

Fortis, once one of Europe’s largest banks, got into trouble after paying a top-of-the-market 24 billion euros ($27.4 billion) to buy the Dutch operations of ABN AMRO just before the credit crunch struck.

Shareholder groups have complained that Lippens and Votron repeatedly assured markets that Fortis’s balance sheet was strong and that it would not be changing its dividend policy.

In June, 2008, Fortis scrapped its interim dividend and sold new shares to prop itself up before it collapsed and was broken up in October 2008.</s>BRUSSELS (AP) — Police and hundreds of yellow jacket protesters upset over high taxes and living costs clashed Friday in Brussels. Dozens were detained as the grassroots movement that started in France two weeks ago…

BRUSSELS (AP) — Police and hundreds of yellow jacket protesters upset over high taxes and living costs clashed Friday in Brussels. Dozens were detained as the grassroots movement that started in France two weeks ago gained traction in Belgium.

Riot police fired tear gas and water cannons on protesters, who threw rocks and paving stones after they were blocked from approaching government buildings and offices in Brussels.

“Our officers started to use water cannons after they began throwing objects. They were throwing pool balls,” said Brussels city police spokeswoman Ilse Van De Keere, estimating that over 300 people were involved in the clashes.

A riot police cordon charged protesters after they attacked two police vehicles, overturning one and setting both alight. Road signs were uprooted and traffic lights smashed.

Around 60 people were charged with disturbing public order. Many were carrying objects that police considered to be dangerous, including razor blades, tire levers and pepper spray, she said. Some were detained for having gas, ski and diving masks.

The Brussels prosecutors’ office said one person was detained for carrying a weapon and a second for willfully causing damage, while a third was being questioned by police over alleged drug offenses. It said an investigation has been opened into the torching of the police vehicles.

Prime Minister Charles Michel tweeted: “all my support to forces of law and order which ensure our safety and guarantee our freedom. No impunity for the inadmissible violence in Brussels. Thugs and pillagers should be punished.”

His interior minister, Jan Jambon, lamented in a tweet what he described as “incomprehensible violence toward the police, which does its best to protect citizens and society. Scandalous.”

Earlier, dozens of protesters wearing the movement’s high visibility vests blocked city streets, sometimes with pieces of scaffolding, causing traffic chaos along major roads. Some handed out vests to bystanders and people stuck in cars.

As they marched, some protesters chanted “We are the people!” and held up placards marked: “Union is Strength” and “Shame on the Police.”

Michel has said he is willing to talk with some of their leaders, but it was not immediately clear whether any meeting had taken place.

Protest roadblocks were also in place near the city of Charleroi, 60 kilometers (38 miles) south of Brussels.

It’s unclear exactly who the protesters are. Small rallies and roadblocks have been going on in the French-speaking south of Belgium for about two weeks. Some appeared linked to high fuel prices, seen as the cause of the protest movement in neighboring France.

Belgian media say many are out in the streets over high taxes and food prices, low wages and pensions, but some question whether the movement is being exploited by far-left and far-right groups.

Copyright © 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
Ten years after the collapse of Belgian financial group Fortis in the financial crisis of 2007–2008, the prosecutor in Brussels decides to drop the case against seven former directors. The prosecution argues that it found insufficient evidence that they knowingly misled shareholders with over-optimistic company information.