Strategy
What Has Fortis Got Planned for MeesPierson?

Belgian-Dutch financial firm Fortis Bank is apparently considering selling its asset-management operations, according to reports in the Wall...
Belgian-Dutch financial firm Fortis Bank is apparently considering selling its asset-management operations, according to reports in the Wall Street Journal. This will have significant consequences for its private banking business under the MeesPierson brand, say people close to the bank. The bank’s new chief executive Jean-Paul Votron is making a series of changes which will affect the future of MeesPierson. “The future of MeesPierson would be affected greatly by the sale of Fortis’s asset management business, because the two are closely combined,” a source close to the bank told WealthBriefing. Earlier this year Fortis said it plans to fold its private banking division into its commercial banking business, which led to speculation about the future of the MeesPierson brand. Mr Votron took over late last year and was charged with revitalizing Fortis's Dutch retail-banking operations. He was hired from Citigroup, where he was chief executive for Western Europe, Central Europe and Russia.