Shareholders in former financial services group Fortis have the right to compensation for damages caused when the bank had to be saved by the Dutch state in 2008, Amsterdam appeal court ruled on Tuesday.

The compensation, still to be agreed, will be paid by the Belgian insurance company Ageas, the only remaining part of Fortis, the Amsterdam court ruled on Tuesday.

Ageas must pay the compensation because Fortis management misled shareholders by giving them wrong information about the bank’s solvency, the court said.

The ruling applies to investors who bought shares based on the misleading information and to shareholders who did not sell their shares because they thought Fortis was solvent.

Dutch state

The legal action also included a complaint against the Dutch state, but the court ruled that information given about the financial state of Fortis and comments made by the then finance minister Wouter Bos were not too positive or misleading.

In addition, these were aimed not at investors but at account holders and savers in an attempt to dissuade them from removing their money from ABN Amro, which was taken over by Fortis in 2007.

Fortis was saved from collapse by being nationalised in October 2008, with the Dutch state buying ABN Amro for €16.8bn.