BRUSSELS - TRADING in shares in the rump of Fortis bank was suspended on the Belgian and Dutch stock markets on Tuesday ahead of a court ruling on BNP Paribas' takeover of part of the ailing company.
Ahead of the decision to suspend trading, shares in the former Belgian-Dutch banking group plunged to 0.66 cents.
The company's shares were trading at about 30 euros in July 2007 before it became embroiled in the US-born bad loan crisis.
Later on Tuesday the Brussels trade court was to pronounce on the validity of the decision to sell Fortis's banking and insurance activities in Belgium following to BNP Paribas.
The case was brought by angry Fortis shareholders.
Hard hit by the global financial crisis, Fortis was dismantled last month, with its Dutch assets nationalised by the Netherlands government for 16.8 billion euros (S$32.4 billion) and its Belgian and Luxembourg activities sold to French bank BNP Paribas.
The Belgian regulator CBFA announced that 'at Fortis's request' trading was being suspended in the afternoon for the rest of the day.
The Dutch markets authority AFM later confirmed its own suspension of Fortis trading following the Belgian move. -- AFP
