Housing corporation Vestia has reached an out-of-court settlement with former director Erik Staal and 10 former supervisory board members but none of those involved has admitted any responsibility for the financial scandal.

Vestia, the Netherlands’ biggest housing corporation, ran into difficulty in 2011 after speculating on the financial markets on interest rates and almost went bust the following year. Staal left the Rotterdam-based company in February 2012 with a golden handshake of €3.5m.

In a statement on Wednesday, Vestia said it had settled for a payment of €4.8m in return for withdrawing its legal action. ‘The settlement does not include any admission of responsibility,’ the statement said.

Banks

The settlement will be largely paid by the company’s liability insurance policy but Staal will contribute €1m and the 10 supervisory board members €50,000 each, news agency ANP reports.

Vestia is also taking legal action against 10 banks for selling the complicated derivatives totalling €23bn in value. In October, it reached a €55m settlement with ABN Amro.