He said the transaction was worth 16.8 billion euros (S$33.74 billion) and would include Fortis's interest in ABN AMRO, the Dutch bank which it bought in a consortium with Royal Bank of Scotland and Banco Santander last year.

Mr Leterme said the decision was aimed at maintaining the durable solvency of the banking and insurance group, which the three governments rescued with an 11.2 billion euro capital injection last Sunday. -- REUTERS