Dutch split over Fortis nationalisation

By Foo Yun Chee and Aaron Grey-Block

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - The government decision to nationalise the Dutch banking and insurance units of Fortis (FOR.BR) divided the country's media and people on Saturday.

In a surprise announcement on Friday, the Dutch government said it would pay 16.8 billion euros (13.1 billion pounds) for assets including Fortis's interest in ABN AMRO, the Dutch bank it bought in a consortium with Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L) and Banco Santander (SAN.MC) last year.

It was the second state rescue of the Belgian-Dutch group in less than a week, replacing last weekend's Benelux rescue package after the financial services group hit an acute cash crunch.

The latest move effectively breaks up the cross-border group along national lines. Calling it baffling, leading financial daily Het Financieele Dagblad wrote: "The banking crisis by itself is not a justification for Friday's intervention."

In an editorial, it said: "In one move, ABN AMRO and Fortis (FOR.AS) have become the most trustworthy banks in the market. This is an unfair competitive advantage during the current credit crisis."

The global credit crisis took hold more than a year ago when defaults on U.S. mortgages began to expose the extent to which high-risk debt had been repackaged and sold on around the world to investors and financial institutions seeking higher returns during a long-running credit boom.

The government intervention has only soothed savers' concerns to a limited degree, said 58-year-old housewife Greet Pouw.

"There will remain a little bit of certainty now but you don't know what the banks do with your money," she said.