The sanctions commission of the FSMA levied a fine on Ageas of EUR 500.000 for breaches by Fortis of the Belgian law on the supervision of the financial sector and the financial services.

The FSMA decided that in the period May-June 2008 Fortis communicated too late or incorrectly on the remedies required by the European Commission in the context of the ABN AMRO take-over, on its future solvency upon full integration of ABN AMRO and on the success of the NITSH II offer. One former Fortis director and one former executive were fined as well.

In February 2010, the AFM, the Dutch regulator, levied a fine for similar breaches of law in the same period. The appeal proceedings against this decision are still going on.

Ageas now also challenges this FSMA decision and will file an appeal before the Court of Appeal in Brussels within 30 days.

Ageas is an international insurance group with a heritage spanning more than 180 years. Ranked among the top 20 insurance companies in Europe, Ageas has chosen to concentrate its business activities in Europe and Asia, which together make up the largest share of the global insurance market. These are grouped around four segments: Belgium, United Kingdom, Continental Europe and Asia and served through a combination of wholly owned subsidiaries and partnerships with strong financial institutions and key distributors around the world. Ageas operates successful partnerships in Belgium, UK, Luxembourg, Italy, Portugal, Turkey, China, Malaysia, India and Thailand and has subsidiaries in France, Hong Kong and UK. Ageas is the market leader in Belgium for individual life and employee benefits, as well as a leading non-life player through AG Insurance. In the UK, Ageas has a strong presence as the fourth largest player in private car insurance and the over 50's market. Ageas employs more than 13,000 people and has annual inflows of more than EUR 21 billion.