Netherlands

Spanish police arrested prominent Dutch corporate lawyer Peter Wakkie at Madrid airport on Monday in an investigation into the insolvency of Russian-Spanish telecom firm ZED+, a judicial source said, Reuters reported. A spokesman for Wakkie, who is ZED+'s interim manager, said he could not immediately comment on the arrest at Barajas Airport after a flight from the Netherlands, where the company is domiciled.

ABN Amro Group NV could eliminate more than 1,000 jobs as the Dutch bank ramps up a restructuring plan designed to reduce costs, The Wall Street Journal reported. ABN Amro said Monday in a letter to its works council that it is considering scrapping 975 to 1,375 jobs in the next couple of years, a move that would reduce annual costs by €195 million ($219 million) to €225 million. The bank, which is controlled by the Dutch government, employs around 22,000 people worldwide. The bank had already hinted at job losses when it presented its second-quarter results in August.

A Dutch court has accepted a request by Brazilian phone carrier Oi SA to put one of its Netherlands-based units under protection from creditors, two people with direct knowledge of the situation said on Tuesday, handing creditors a victory as they seek to recoup billions of dollars in losses. According to the sources, who requested anonymity since the matter is confidential, Oi's request for "suspension of payment" in an Amsterdam bankruptcy court allows for an independent trustee to be appointed. The suspension creates a standstill for payments to creditors for companies in the Netherlands.

A unit of distressed debt firm Aurelius Capital Management LP asked a Dutch court on Monday to start bankruptcy proceedings against a Netherlands subsidiary of phone company Oi SA, which last week filed Brazil's largest-ever bankruptcy protection request. Aurelius unit Syzygy Capital Management Ltd owns bonds sold by Oi Brasil Holdings Coöperatief UA, a Netherlands subsidiary of the Brazilian phone company, Aurelius said in a statement on Monday. Oi confirmed the "involuntary bankruptcy" filing by Syzygy in the Dutch court in a statement later on Monday.

In a victory for Moscow, a Dutch court on Wednesday overturned an order that Russia pay $50 billion to shareholders in defunct oil company Yukos, saying that the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration had no jurisdiction, the Irish Times reported. Former Yukos shareholders said they would appeal the surprise decision, which could impact earlier rulings in Belgium and France that four former shareholders were entitled to seize Russian state assets to compensate them for the loss of the oil giant.

Rabobank, the Dutch co-operative banking group which operates in Ireland, reported a 20 per cent rise in 2015 net profit on Thursday to €2.21 billion in a rebounding Dutch economy, the Irish Times reported. The dominating factor was a fall in loan provisions of more than €1 billion, to €343 million, though Rabobank said that low level would probably not be maintained in 2016. Rabobank in December announced plans to shed 9,000 jobs, a fifth of its workforce, and sell as much as €150 billion worth of assets on its balance sheet by 2020 to make itself more resilient to financial shocks.

PGGM, one of the largest Dutch pension fund managers, will on Monday complete a €2.3bn trade to insure loans of Santander, the Spanish bank, in a deal that highlights the growing appeal of exotic financial instruments in a world of ultra-low interest rates, the Financial Times reported. The two parties are finalising a so-called synthetic securitisation deal, by which PGGM will sell credit insurance against potential losses on a portion of more than 6,000 Santander loans to small and medium enterprises.

Vroom & Dreesman, the largest Dutch department store chain, has been declared bankrupt, it said in a statement published on its website on Thursday. V&D, with 10,000 workers at 67 stores, has suffered in recent years as the Dutch economy stagnated and on-line stores won away customers. After weak sales in the Dutch holiday season, which falls in early December, it filed for protection from creditors on Dec. 22. A statement on the company's website said it hopes to remain in business after a restructuring, and that it has been contacted by "dozens" of potential investors.

Vroom & Dreesman, the largest Dutch department store chain, has been declared bankrupt, Reuters reported today. V&D, with 10,000 workers at 67 stores, has suffered in recent years as the Dutch economy stagnated and on-line stores won away customers. After weak sales in the Dutch holiday season, which falls in early December, it filed for protection from creditors on Dec. 22. The company said that it hopes to remain in business after a restructuring, and that it has been contacted by "dozens" of potential investors.

Vroom & Dreesman, the largest department store chain in the Netherlands, has been granted protection from creditors after failed efforts to turn around the troubled business, Reuters reported today. V&D, with 10,000 employees at 62 stores across the Netherlands, has struggled to cut costs after posting losses in 2014. "It is a huge disappointment that we have to seek protection from our creditors," Chief Executive John van der Ent said in a statement.