DSB Liquidators on the War Path
Pfäffikon SZ, Switzerland – Last week it became known that the liquidators of the perished DSB Bank (DSB) have filed suit against De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB). According to the liquidators the bank should have never received a banking license from the DNB in 2005. The claim against DNB could go up to 1 billion euro and is unique in Dutch history. Moreover, liquidator Rutger Jan Schimmelpenninck isn’t just some liquidator. Schimmelpenninck boasts a rich career in insolvency law. Nusse Brink, Infotheek, Texlite and Fokker are the illustrious cases he was once involved with. Schimmelpenninck is also the first port of call in The Netherlands during the Lehman-Brothers collapse.
I had the pleasure of meeting Schimmelpenninck once during the demise of Van der Hoop Bankiers. What struck me was the level of expertise displayed by liquidator Schimmelpenninck. This reinforces my suspicion that Schimmelpenninck may very well have a case against the DNB.
Annoying Brand Names
With all due respect to Dirk Scheringa, I see no other way of looking at things other than that the forerunner to the DSB bank comprised of a colorful collection of annoying brand names. Scheringa’s business model roughly consisted of commission hunting while making use of tying sales. I have to admit that I have witnessed these practices at other well known Dutch banks as well. Scheringa had multiple opportunities to sell his company at a favorable price, but turned out to be very stubborn and too proud.
Sole Proprietorship
That’s where the problem lies. Scheringa ran the DSB Bank as a sole proprietorship to which the DNB, oddly enough, turned a blind eye. One had to expect more from Gerrit Zalm – the current chairman at ABN AMRO – during his highly remarkable trip to the DSB. Not to mention the other board members. Scheringa’s financial entanglements with football club AZ and the megalomaniacal museum ambitions reinforce the picture of a chairman who had lost touch with reality and did as he pleased. The DSB was never really a bank and that’s what Schimmelpenninck is trying to prove. Scheringa crying crocodile tears over his bank not being bailed out by the DNB is besides the point.
In any case, Schimmelpenninck is launching an interesting case. These are interesting times for lovers of complex legal issues. At the DNB they can start preparing themselves for a fight with a motivated liquidator.
It remains for me to wish you a good weekend.
Jan Dwarshuis is a senior asset manager at Thirteen Asset Management AG, where he is responsible for the Thirteen Diversified Fund. Dwarshuis writes his columns in a personal capacity and is not paid for them. Nor is he paying for his columns to be placed. Professionally, he holds positions in major European, American and Russian stock funds. The information in his columns is not intended as professional investment advice or a recommendation to make certain investments. At the time of writing, he has no position in the above shares and has no intention of doing so in the next 72 hours.
