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Commission opens in-depth probe into Belgium’s protection scheme for financial cooperatives

By  |  April 3, 2012

The European Commission has opened an in-depth investigation into the extension of Belgium’s deposit guarantee scheme that protects shares in financial cooperatives. The scheme protects individual shareholders, and only for those shares issued before October 10, 2011, the effective date of the scheme.

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    The Commission is concerned that the extension of the scheme “may enable cooperatives to attract or maintain capital because of the State support,” in violation of state aid laws. Under the scheme, Belgium is to make advance payments if funding from the participants’ annual contributions ended up being insufficient.

    Full content: EC Press Release

     

    Related content: Stability and Competition in EU Banking During the Financial Crisis: The Role of State Aid Control (Gert-Jan Koopman, DG Comp)