Brussels, 03/11/2009 (Agence Europe) - On 13 October, the European Commission approved the temporary extension guarantee granted jointly by Belgium, France and Luxembourg to cover the commitments of the bank Dexia. The extension of this measure, which was authorised in 2008, was judged still to be justified by the financial situation of the group and by its systemic importance for the economies of the three member states in question. It is nevertheless limited to four months (until the end of February 2010). The Commission will then take a definitive decision on the full range of state aid received by the bank, thus closing the in-depth investigation opened in March of this year.
The extension of the authorisation includes the following changes: - the total of the guarantee drops from €150 billion to €100 billion; - the majority of the debt instruments covered by the guarantee are extended from 31 October 2011 to 31 October 2014; - the very short-term debt instruments (less than a month) will cease to be covered by the guarantee as of 16 October 2009. All other elements of the guarantee, particularly remuneration (in line with ECB standards), remain unchanged. (C.D./transl.fl)