Commercial court declares Optima Bank bankrupt
The commercial court in Ghent has declared Optima Bank bankrupt, a week after the company lost its banking and insurance licences amid allegations of financial irregularities
350 employees affected
According to the socialist union BBTK, some 350 employees will be affected by the bankruptcy, including 170 who were directly employed and independent agents who worked on contract. At the same time, anyone who still had a savings or current account with Optima will see their assets protected to a maximum of €100,000 per account by the state’s guarantee fund, which has a capital of more than €3 billion.
There are 14,000 standing accounts at Optima, with a total value of €90 million. Some accounts contain more than €100,000; compensation in those cases will be decided by the administrators. About €60 million is guaranteed automatically. To date, only 314 account holders have approached the guarantee fund.
At the outset, Optima was not intended to be a bank. It was set up in 1991 by Jeroen Piqueur as a financial planning company, managing assets of wealthy clients and encouraging them to invest in real estate and insurance.
Over time, clients began to complain that their investments were making less than promised, while Optima was turning profit on commissions. The financial market regulators began to take an interest, and when Optima applied for a banking licence to take over Ethias Bank in 2011, the regulators refused. Only when the supervision of banks passed to the National Bank, did Optima get its banking licence.
The situation became alarming in 2014, after the bank had brought in some €300 million in new capital thanks to a rash offer of 3.75% interest on savings. Annual profits in 2012 and 2013 turned to a loss in 2014, which has never been given an official figure. In September of that year, Optima was ordered to stop its banking activities and liquidate all accounts – a measure which saw deposits fall from €700 million to €90 million.
Optima gave notice that it wanted to surrender its banking licence and convert into an asset management company, but the financial regulator, faced with reports that the company’s owner had withdrawn some €10 million without authorisation, refused to issue the licence. Last week, the National Bank withdrew Optima’s banking licence, and the financial regulator suspended the company’s insurance licence.
Photo: Laurie Dieffembacq/Belga
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