The Dutch government has been ordered to pay €804m plus interest to investors in insurer SNS Reaal and SNS bank who lost their stakes when the government nationalised the financial services group in 2013.

The bank and insurance company were nationalised because they were on the verge of bankruptcy and the then finance minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem refused to compensate investors.

In almost eight years of legal action, the finance ministry did agree to a compensation deal worth €300m. However, the company court in Amsterdam has now ruled that this should be increased to €804m, most of which will go to bond holders.

Shareholders will not be compensated, the court ruled, because shares in SNS Reaal had ‘no value, and so the shareholders whose shares were nationalised will not receive any money.’

‘This is very disappointing for the shareholders who get nothing after eight years of legal campaigning,’ said Paul Coenen, deputy director of shareholders’ lobby group VEB. The risk of bankruptcy was taken into account in the final share price of 84 cents, he said.

The court’s ruling is not yet final because both government and investors can now appeal to the Supreme Court.

The official report into the nationalisation of the financial services group was highly critical of both the central bank and the finance ministry.