On Wednesday 21 December, the Court of Justice of the European Union decided that the guarantee granted by Belgium to the financial cooperative companies ARCO (Arcopar, Arcofin and Arcoplus) infringed Union rules (C-76/15).
The ARCO group is one of the main shareholders in the Franco-Belgian Dexia bank, which has experienced serious difficulties since the global financial crisis of 2008. The three financial cooperatives have been in liquidation since 2011. In November that year, the Belgian state granted the 800,000 associate members of these three cooperatives limited protection of €100,000 per investor, as a means of tackling the threat of private investors taking flight.
In 2014, the Commission described this “ARCO guarantee” as “illegal state aid that was incompatible with the internal market” and called on Belgium to refrain from any payment under the guarantee. According to the Court, which both Belgium and the ARCO companies approached, this kind of state aid appears to be more of a benefit to the acquisition of company shares – with regard to the directive on guarantee systems for deposits which does not include any guarantee – than a payment into a bank account.
In its ruling, the Court ratified the decision of the Commission: the guarantee granted by Belgium to the ARCO companies, does indeed infringe Union rules. (Original version in French by Thomas Régnier)