Business as usual for Fortis UK

by Gill Montia

Story link: Business as usual for Fortis UK

Today’s news that BNP Paribas is acquiring the Belgium and Luxembourg businesses of European finance and insurance giant, Fortis, does not affect Fortis UK, which remains in the hands of its shareholders.

Last week, Fortis Group received a significant injection of cash from the governments of Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, which over the weekend entered discussions with BNP, France’s largest bank.

An agreement has been reached whereby BNP will take up to 75% of Fortis’ Belgian operations and a 66% stake in its Luxembourg business.

BNP says it will pay around €14.7 million for the business which includes a network of 1,500 bank branches across Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Germany, Poland and Turkey.

It is also buying some of the group’s insurance operations for an additional €5.7 billion.

However, Fortis UK operates as a separate legal entity from Fortis Group and in a press release to clarify the recent changes, the company stresses that it is regulated by the Financial Services Authority in the UK and that it reported profit before tax of £43.3 million in the six months to the end of June.

Fortis UK is assuring policyholders that they should not be concerned about recent events and can rely on business carrying on as usual.