Belgian central bank shares drop on court ruling

Source: Reuters

Shares of the Belgian central bank, Banque Nationale de Belgique (BNAB.BR), fell more than five percent on Tuesday after a commercial court ruled the bank would not have to call an extraordinary shareholders' meeting.

A group of minority shareholders had called for a meeting to ask for the dissolution of the bank over a disputed transfer of assets. But on Monday, a Brussels commercial court dismissed the suit as unfounded.

The bank's shares were down 4.68 percent at 3,450 euros in almost three times their daily average volume by 0900 GMT.

"Investors had hoped to get a positive response in the court and they are disappointed," one trader said.

A top Belgian lawyer, Mischael Modrikamen, had taken the bank to court over a disputed transfer of assets, which he says has depleted the bank of its equity.

Modrikamen had called for an extraordinary meeting of shareholders to ask for the dissolution of the bank because a transfer of the bank's gold and currency reserves to the Belgian state had depleted its equity. The bank has denied such a transfer took place.