The allegations revolve around the so-called winstbewijzen, a peculiar kind of share which allowed ACW to receive dividends from Dexia before the bank was broken up and nationalised. (The bank division of Dexia in Belgium is now known as Belfius.) Dexia has now bought back the shares from ACW, with ACW then lending the money to Dexia in return for interest.

According to an analysis by the business magazine Trends, ACW received €102 million in this way between 2003 and 2011 but paid only €58,000 in tax. According to ACW, the construction that allowed this is entirely legal. However, the organisation is faced with the problem of ethics, especially given its previous criticism of companies that did the same thing.

ACW has close connections with the CD&V party of finance minister Steven Vanackere (pictured), who moved quickly to distance himself from any allegation of wrong-doing, stating he felt “betrayed” along with the 800,000 ACW investors who had little or no knowledge of what was happening with their money. “The co-operative spirit and high finance are simply not good partners,” he said. “It’s not only the ACW people on the board of Dexia who should have realised that.”

Crombez, meanwhile, played down calls, from Groen and N-VA, among others, for a parliamentary enquiry. “The best thing to do with accusations and evidence is take them to the courts,” he said. “This difficult subject would cost a committee a great deal of time and work.”