Brussels, 03/04/2012 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 3 April, the European Commission opened an in-depth investigation to assess whether an extension of the Belgian deposit guarantee scheme (which aims to protect shares owned by individual shareholders in financial cooperatives such as ARCO, which is currently in liquidation) complies with EU rules on state aid. It is concerned that the scheme in question allows cooperatives to attract capital or preserve their own capital, which gives them an advantage over their competitors, thereby distorting competition on the internal market. The guarantee covers the capital paid by the shareholders of the cooperative, to a level of an upper limit set at €100,000 and as long as the shares were issued before 10 October 2011. The scheme would mainly be financed from annual contributions of participants, but the Belgian state would make advance payments should there otherwise be insufficient means. (FG/transl.fl)