News

On this page, you will find the most recent Fortis Merchant Banking press releases and clippings. Journalists are encouraged to contact the Fortis Merchant Banking Press Officers (Karin ter Voort + 31 20 527 16 46 or Valérie Guilmin + 32 2 565 94 17) with any inquiries.

If you are looking for:

• our archive, please click on 2007 or 2006 in the left menu 

• information on the wider Fortis network (e.g. financial results, the Fortis annual report, Fortis' Corporate Governance and Sustainablity programmes, etc.), please visit the Fortis corporate website.

April 2008

• Fortis Energy Marketing & Trading enhances contractual Asset Portfolio Management Team (24/04)
  Bruce Sukaly to join as Managing Director, Asset Management - Lloyd P. Jackson promoted to Managing Director, Power Trading

• European Multilateral Clearing Facility N.V. (EMCF) cuts fees again (22/04)
  The European Multilateral Clearing Facility (EMCF) announces a further reduction in its clearing fees effective 1^st May 2008. Such fee reductions further confirm EMCF's market position as initiator of cheaper clearing and settlement in Europe.

• Fortis named Clearing Service of the Year (15/04)
  Fortis Clearing was recently named Clearing Service of the Year by the Futures & Options World (FOW) Magazine, a subsidiary of the prestigious Euromoney Group. Fortis was selected by a panel of peers and an online poll.

• Fortis Merchant Banking announces appointments for Energy, Commodities & Transportation (ECT) (04/04)
  Fortis Merchant Banking has appointed Anne Marie Verstraeten as Managing Director for Energy and Gust Biesbroeck as Managing Director for Transportation.

• Fortis and ABN AMRO announce the first step in the sale of parts of ABN AMRO Business Unit Netherlands (03/04)
  Fortis and ABN AMRO announce the first step in the sale of parts of the commercial banking activities of ABN AMRO Business Unit Netherlands (BU NL). This consists of Hollandsche Bank Unie N.V., two corporate clients units and 13 commercial advisory branches. In addition, the Dutch factoring company IFN Finance B.V. will be sold. All these businesses are currently part of ABN AMRO in the Netherlands.

• European Multilateral Clearing facility celebrates its first anniversary (03/04)
  The European Multilateral Clearing Facility (EMCF) has grown significantly since it started offering services on 30 March 2007. In its first year of operation, EMCF has welcomed a total of 21 clearing participants, of which 10 direct clearing participants and 11 general clearing participants.  

March 2008

• Fortis Prime Fund Solutions ("Fortis PFS") is delighted to announce the appointment of Edith Ngan as Regional Managing Director of its Asia operations (31/03)
  Edith Ngan will take overall charge of the existing Fortis PFS offices in Hong Kong, Singapore and Tokyo, and is charged with enhancing and expanding the service levels and product range for existing clients, and introducing the Fortis PFS suite of services to new markets.

• Prime Fund Solutions successfully launches Reconciliations Platform (14/03)
  PFS, the Fortis Merchant Banking business unit dedicated to servicing the alternative and traditional investment industry, has successfully launched an improved central platform for automated reconciliations.

• Fortis awarded ‘Best Carbon Trader 2008' (12/03)
  Fortis has received the ‘Best Carbon Trader 2008' award from Point Carbon. The award was presented at the prestigious Carbon Market Awards at the Carbon Market Insight conference. Each year, Point Carbon announces the winners for Best Trader, Best Broker and Best Project Developer.

• Fortis appoints Managing Director, Commodities USA and Managing Director, Commodities Hong Kong (06/03)
  Fortis is pleased to announce that it has appointed Michiel van der Voort as Managing Director, Commodities USA and Danny Ip as Managing Director, Commodities Hong Kong.

February 2008

• Green Light: UNDP and Fortis Announce First Project Agreements for MDG Carbon Facility (21/02)
  Efforts toward greenhouse-gas reduction on track in Uzbekistan, Macedonia, Yemen and Rwanda.
  About Merchant Banking Carbon Banking services

• ENECO Energie Revolving Credit Facility – over-subscribed & increased (20/02)
  ENECO Holding N.V. has signed its Revolving Credit Facility in the increased amount of EUR 1.5bn (up from EUR 1.25bn) following an over-subscription in syndication. ABN AMRO Bank N.V., Barclays Capital (the investment banking division of Barclays Bank PLC), Fortis Bank (Nederland) N.V. and Société Générale Corporate & Investment Banking were joint Bookrunners on the deal. Fortis is Co-ordinator and Facility Agent.

• European Multilateral Clearing Facility N.V. (EMCF) cuts fees (15/02)
  EMCF, a company fully owned by Fortis, today announced a further reduction in its clearing fees effective 1st March 2008. Such fee reductions further confirm EMCF's market position as initiator of cheaper clearing and settlement in Europe.

• Fortis appoints Harris Antoniou as CEO of Energy, Commodities and Transportation and member of the Board of Merchant
  Banking (08/02)
  Harris Antoniou succeeds Frans van Lanschot, who has been appointed CEO of Specialised Finance within Fortis.

• Fortis opens new Tokyo branch (06/02)
  Fortis opened a new Branch office in Tokyo, Japan in February 2008. The Tokyo branch will focus on providing a range of banking services to clients, specifically in the Energy, Commodities & Transportation (ECT) and Global Export and Project Finance (GEPF) fields.

January 2008

• Commodity Market: Interview of Head of Fortis Global Commodities Group (31/01)
  Paul Schuilwerve, Global Head of Commodities within Fortis, comments on last year and the outlook for 2008 in an article for T&FR Magazine.
  Read the full article published in Trade & Forfaiting Review, December 07/January 08

• Fortis Energy Marketing & Trading appoints Flint Mitchell as new Desk Head for West Power Trading (24/01)
  New Role Reflects Fortis' Expanding Market Presence

• Prime Fund Solutions, the global fund services provider of Merchant Banking, successfully upgrades its core banking platform (22/01)
  Prime Fund Solutions, the Fortis Merchant Banking business line dedicated to servicing the alternative and traditional investment industry, has successfully
  upgraded its core banking platform to T24.
  This new banking system provides Prime Fund Solutions with state-of-the-art technology, ensuring the continuity, performance and scalability needed to support the substantial business growth.

• Fortis teams up with Green Award Foundation (18/01)
  Fortis and the Green Award Foundation have jointly announced a cooperation agreement whereby Fortis has become a Green Award Incentive Provider. Fortis is the first bank to be a Green Award Incentive Provider. Fortis supports the Green Award Foundation as a recent study shows that "on average, ships that are certified by Green Award show a lower amount of deficiencies than ships that are not certified.*)"

• Fortis opens new branch office in Sydney (16/01)
  Fortis received a license from the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) on 20 December 2007 to open a new Branch office in Sydney, Australia. This is a milestone for Fortis in Australia as it solidifies its business operations and customer reach in Asia Pacific.