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☆ Court hears suit to stop Netherlands exporting F-35 parts to Israel
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-04 | by ( Stephanie Van Den Berg Tosterling | Stephanie Van Den Berg | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/3] A district court hears a case against the Dutch state launched by human rights organisations, who say the export of F35 fighter jet parts to Israel makes the Netherlands complicit in alleged war crimes in Gaza, in The Hague, Netherlands, December 4, 2023. The Netherlands houses one of several regional warehouses of U.S.-owned F-35 parts which are then distributed to countries that request them, including Israel. Preventing that was more important than the Netherlands fulfilling its commercial or political obligations to allied countries, they argued. "The (Dutch) state must immediately stop its deliveries of F-35 parts to Israel," lawyer Liesbeth Zegveld said in summary proceeding at the Hague District Court. Lawyer for the Dutch state Reimer Veldhuis said it was "legitimate" to wonder whether Israel's reaction to Hamas had gone too far.

Persons: de Wouw, Israel, Liesbeth Zegveld, Zegveld, Reimer Veldhuis, Stephanie van den Berg, David Holmes, Alex Richardson Organizations: REUTERS, HAGUE, Oxfam Novib, Hague, Thomson Locations: Israel, Netherlands, Gaza, The Hague, U.S, Geneva

☆ Dutch state to sell down stake in ABN Amro
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ABN AMRO logo is seen at the headquarters in Amsterdam, Netherlands May 14, 2019. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsAMSTERDAM, Nov 30 (Reuters) - The Dutch government on Thursday said it would sell some of its shares in lender ABN Amro (ABNd.AS) , reducing its stake to around 40%. The Dutch state currently holds 49.5% of the shares in ABN Amro, one of three dominant banks in the Netherlands, following a bailout in the 2008 financial crisis. The Dutch state sold down its holding in ABN Amro to below 50% earlier this year. ABN Amro shares traded down 2.2% at 12.25 euros ($13.38) in early trading on Thursday, around 30% below their 2015 introduction price.

Persons: de, Bart Meijer, Bernadette Baum, Sharon Singleton Organizations: ABN AMRO, REUTERS, Rights, ABN Amro, of America Securities Europe, Thomson Locations: Amsterdam , Netherlands, Netherlands

☆ Dutch king apologizes for Netherlands’ historic role in slavery
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-01 | by ( ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Dutch King Willem-Alexander on Saturday apologized for the Netherlands’ historic involvement in slavery and the effects that it still has today. “On this day that we remember the Dutch history of slavery, I ask forgiveness for this crime against humanity,” he said. Spectators react after King Willem-Alexander apologized for the royal house's role in slavery at an event to commemorate the anniversary of the abolition of slavery by the Netherlands on Saturday. The apology comes amid a wider reconsideration of the Netherlands’ colonial past, including involvement in both the Atlantic slave trade and slavery in its former Asian colonies. Willem-Alexander apologized in Indonesia in 2020 for “excessive violence” during Dutch colonial rule.

Persons: King Willem, Alexander, ”, Koti, Peter Dejong, Willem, Mark Rutte, Rutte, Orange Organizations: CNN, Royal House, Royal Locations: Netherlands, Caribbean, Amsterdam’s Oosterpark, Indonesia, East India

☆ King apologises for Netherlands' historic role in slavery
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/6] Dutch King Willem-Alexander speaks at an event to commemorate the anniversary of the abolition of slavery by the Netherlands, in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Saturday, July 1, 2023. The king apologised for the royal house's role in slavery and asked for forgiveness. Peter Dejong/Pool via REUTERSAMSTERDAM, July 1 (Reuters) - Dutch King Willem-Alexander on Saturday apologised for the Netherlands' historic involvement in slavery and the effects that it still has today. The apology comes amid a wider reconsideration of the Netherlands' colonial past, including involvement in both the Atlantic slave trade and slavery in its former Asian colonies. Willem-Alexander apologised in Indonesia in 2020 for "excessive violence" during Dutch colonial rule.

Persons: King Willem, Alexander, Peter Dejong, Keti, Willem, Mark Rutte, Rutte, Orange, Toby Sterling, Jason Neely, Louise Heavens Organizations: REUTERS, Dutch State, Royal House, Royal, Thomson Locations: Netherlands, Amsterdam, REUTERS AMSTERDAM, Caribbean, Amsterdam's, Indonesia, Dutch, East India

☆ TenneT lines up 8 bln-euro credit ahead of German operations sale
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

AMSTERDAM, June 14 (Reuters) - Electric grid operator TenneT Holding (IPO-TTH.AS) said on Wednesday it has signed an 8 billion euro ($8.63 billion) credit facility to support its spending plans as it awaits a deal to sell its German operations to the German state. Governments of the two countries have said they hope to agree a deal on the sale of TenneT Germany this summer and close a deal by the end of 2023, though talks have been going slowly. TenneT, which had a debt-heavy balance sheet of 38.5 billion euros at the end of 2022, in March estimated equity needs at its German arm of 15 billion euros and of 10 billion euros at its Dutch arm. TenneT said the 2.5-year facility is provided by BNP Paribas, ABN AMRO, BNG, Commerzbank, Deutsche Bank, ING, Rabobank, Santander, SMBC Nikko, and UniCredit. ($1 = 0.9271 euros)($1 = 0.9268 euros)Reporting by Toby Sterling, Editing by Louise Heavens and Sharon SingletonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: TenneT, Toby Sterling, Louise Heavens, Sharon Singleton Organizations: TenneT, BNP, ABN AMRO, Deutsche Bank, ING, Rabobank, Santander, Thomson Locations: AMSTERDAM, Dutch, Germany, Netherlands, BNG, Nikko

☆ ABN Amro Q1 net profit jumps 77% on higher rates and lower costs
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

AMSTERDAM, May 10 (Reuters) - Dutch bank ABN Amro (ABNd.AS) on Wednesday beat analyst expectations with a 77% jump in first-quarter net profit to 523 million euros ($576 million), helped by rising interest rates and lower costs. Analysts in a company-compiled poll on average had predicted a net profit of 370 million euros for the first three months of 2023, up from 295 million euros a year before. Improving deposit margins drove net interest income up 24% to 1.6 billion euros, while impairments for bad loans fell to 14 million euros as economic growth in the Netherlands remained strong despite surging inflation. The lender was re-privatised in 2015, following a bailout during the 2008 financial crisis, but the Dutch state has held a majority stake since then. ($1 = 0.9084 euros)Reporting by Bart Meijer; Editing by Tom HogueOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Dutch government sources estimate the deal at 20 billion euros ($22 billion) or more, but German industry sources say it may be less. TenneT had a book value of 7.3 billion euros at the end of 2022, on a balance sheet of 38.5 billion euros. TenneT's German grid alone has liabilities of 21.6 billion euros, nearly three times that of the Dutch network. TenneT's 19 billion euros of outstanding bonds, issued when interest rates were lower, are another issue, the people said. Dutch pension fund PGGM, one of TenneT's bondholders, expects such an outcome in the event of a sale.

☆ TenneT awards $25 bln in contracts to build North Sea-to-shore connections
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Tosterling Muhammed Husain | Muhammed Husain | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

AMSTERDAM, March 30 (Reuters) - Dutch state-owned electric grid company TenneT (IPO-TTH.AS) has awarded 11 contracts worth a combined 23 billion euros ($25 billion) to build systems connecting wind farms in the North Sea to shore, it said on Thursday. The contracts are being awarded to consortia led by Hitachi Energy and by General Electric, and caused shares in Petrofac (PFC.L), part of the Hitachi group, to spike as much as 73%. TenneT is spending tens of billions of euros over the next decade to connect North Sea wind farms to the electric grid in Germany and the Netherlands. The other consortium of Hitachi Energy (6501.T) and London-based Petrofac Ltd said it had signed a 13 billion euro agreement for six projects. The Dutch and German governments are in talks for Germany to buy TenneT's German operations in light of the company's massive investment needs, estimated at over 100 billion euros in the coming decade.

☆ Germany’s electricity headache has an M&A cure
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( George Hay | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Sorting out a rickety power grid is an especially pressing issue in Germany, but luckily Scholz also has the means to act. Cutting carbon emissions means powering more cars and homes through zero-carbon electricity rather than fossil fuels. It has to transport electricity all the way from wind turbines in the northern regions to its southern industrial heartland, which means the power network is often overloaded. The German power network is also unusually complex. Germany’s historic dependence on Russian gas deepened its energy crisis last year, and underscored the risks of relying on foreign-owned critical assets.

☆ Dutch gov't, Shell and Exxon ignored Groningen risks for years, inquiry finds
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/4] Workers rebuild homes in the northern Dutch town of Overschild, where earthquakes from natural gas extraction have made them unsafe, Netherlands, March 10, 2022. REUTERS/Anthony Deutsch/File PhotoAMSTERDAM, Feb 24 (Reuters) - The Dutch government and energy companies Shell (SHEL.L) and Exxon Mobil (XOM.N) ignored the risks of gas production in Groningen for years, to the detriment of people living in the province, a parliamentary inquiry concluded on Friday. The massive Groningen field is operated by Shell and Exxon joint venture NAM and was one of Europe's major suppliers of natural gas for decades. Groningen gas production has been cut back significantly over the past decade and will be halted in the coming year because of the threat to life and property from the resulting earth tremors. "Gas extraction in Groningen was so successful and lucrative for the Dutch government, Shell and Exxon Mobil that they hardly took any notion of the long-term risks and the ever-clearer signs of the detrimental effects for the people in Groningen," it said.

☆ ABN Amro announces 500 mln euro share buyback as Q4 profit beats forecasts
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Net profit of the largely state-owned bank dropped to 354 million euros in the last three months of 2022, down from 552 million euros the year before - but much better than the 105 million euros analysts on average had predicted in a company-compiled poll. Impairments were 74% lower than a year before at 32 million euros as economic growth in Europe held stronger than expected despite surging inflation. Since its bailout by the Dutch state in 2008, ABN has refocused its operations and orientation on the Dutch market, cutting thousands of jobs in the process. One of three dominant banks in the Netherlands, it was re-privatized in 2015, but the Dutch state still owns 56% of the shares and has sold none since September 2017. The state will participate in the share buyback, which has been approved by the European Central Bank and will maintain its relative stake, ABN said.

☆ Dutch premier pledges Patriot missiles for Ukraine at Biden meeting
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Jan 17 (Reuters) - Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte told U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday that the Netherlands would offer Patriot missiles to Ukraine, a day after the top Dutch trade official balked at new U.S. restrictions on exporting chip-making technology to China. The Netherlands will join the United States and Germany in sending the Patriot missile defense system to Ukraine, Rutte told Biden at the White House. Biden told Rutte he looked forward to discussing ways to strengthen the supply chain as he welcomed the prime minister to the White House. Trade Minister Liesje Schreinemacher said on Sunday the Netherlands would not summarily accept demands by the United States on chip technology. Rutte told reporters on Friday that he did not feel pressure from Washington to adopt more restrictions on semiconductor exports to China.

☆ Dutch leader apologizes for Netherlands’ role in the slave trade, establishes fund to grapple with slavery's legacy
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

THE HAGUE, Netherlands — Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte apologized Monday on behalf of his government for the Netherlands’ role in slavery and the slave trade, in a speech welcomed by activists as historic but lacking in concrete plans for repair and reparations. Ahead of the speech, Waldo Koendjbiharie, a retiree who was born in Suriname but lived for years in the Netherlands, said an apology was not enough. And on how this history still plays a negative role in the lives of many today,” the government says. The Dutch first became involved in the trans-Atlantic slave trade in the late 1500s and became a major trader in the mid-1600s. Eventually, the Dutch West India Company became the largest trans-Atlantic slave trader, said Karwan Fatah-Black, an expert in Dutch colonial history and an assistant professor at Leiden University.

☆ Netherlands PM Rutte apologises for role of Dutch state in slavery
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Tosterling Ank Kuipers | Ank Kuipers | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/8] Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte responds to recommendations from a panel of experts to accept the role of the Netherlands in the history of slavery and its current consequences in The Hague, Netherlands December 19, 2022. "Today I apologise," Rutte said in a nationally televised speech at the Dutch National Archives. "For centuries the Dutch state and its representatives have enabled and stimulated slavery and have profited from it," he added. "It is true that nobody alive today bears any personal guilt for slavery...(however) the Dutch state bears responsibility for the immense suffering that has been done to those that were enslaved and their descendants." The panel said that Dutch participation in slavery had amounted to crimes against humanity and in 2021 recommended an apology and reparations.

☆ Air France raises 300 million euros with convertible bond issue
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Silvia Aloisi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

PARIS, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Air France-KLM on Wednesday raised just over 300 million euros ($312 million) by issuing subordinated bonds convertible into stock, seeking to strengthen its capital and pay back state aid but sending its shares plummeting. Air France said in February that it was considering options for raising of up to 4 billion euros of capital, including a rights issue and quasi-equity debt issues. The bonds, which can be exchanged into existing Air France shares as well as converted into new shares, were offered through a placement to qualified investors, the airline said. Major shareholder CMA CGM, a shipping company, participated in the issue pro rata to its 9% equity stake in the company, Air France said in a statement. "The company is not aware of any subscription intention from its other main shareholders," Air France said.

☆ Air France issues bonds convertible into shares for 300 mln euros
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Silvia Aloisi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The shares plunged 13% in early trading as the issue dilutes current shareholders in Air France if the bonds are converted into new shares unless they buy into it. Air France said in February that it was considering options for a capital raising of up to 4 billion euros, including a rights issue and quasi equity debt issues. The bonds, which can also be exchanged with existing Air France shares, will be offered through a placement to qualified investors, the airline said. Air France-KLM received 10.4 billion euros in support in 2020 when the coronavirus pandemic hit, including through direct French and Dutch state loans. "The company is not aware of any subscription intention from its other main shareholders," Air France said.

France, Spain and Finland said their rules are already structured to automatically take account of market tensions. The data tracked German, Italian, French, Spanish and Dutch bonds, markets which account for the vast majority of euro zone debt with nearly 8 trillion euros outstanding. So governments expect, and some formally require their primary dealers - banks that buy government debt at auctions and then sell to investors and manage its trading - to keep those tight. The euro zone is roughly 60% the size of the U.S. economy but it relies on Germany's 1.6 trillion euro bond market as a safe haven - a fraction of the $23-trillion U.S. Treasury market. Smaller governments pay premium over bigger rating peersEfforts by debt officials are welcomed by European primary dealers, whose numbers have dwindled in recent years because of shrinking profit margins and tougher regulation.

☆ Dutch right-to-die group fights to widen legal euthanasia boundaries
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-10 | by ( Stephanie Van Den Berg | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"We believe it should be possible to provide the means to be able to humanely end your own life," Jos van Wijk of Cooperative Last Will said in court. A lawyer for the cooperative said the case is strategic litigation aimed at forcing the Netherlands to change the laws. Lawyers for the Dutch state argued that the euthanasia laws strike good balance between the duty of the state to protect citizens, even from themselves, and individual autonomy. The Netherlands was the first country in the world to legalise euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide under very strict conditions and when overseen by medical professionals. Assisting a suicide, or providing a means to commit suicide outside of the strict euthanasia criteria, is punishable with a jail term of up to three years.

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