NETHERLANDS – KAS Bank’s shareholdings in the London Stock Exchange, Euronext and Deutsche Börse appreciated more than €9m in the second half of 2005 to reach €25m at year end.

The increase was attributed to the continuous negotiations surrounding the three European exchanges.

A KAS Bank spokesperson told IPE it was “difficult” to say whether the appreciation levels would continue into this year. “It depends on the future developments of the exchanges,” he said.

KAS Bank managing board chairman Albert Röell said in a press release: “We do not expect that a possible concentration of the exchanges will be a disadvantage to our clients for the present, considering that exchanges are increasingly competing with professional trade outside the exchange.”

The release also stated KAS plans to strengthen the rights of certificate holders in accordance with stipulations in the Tabaksblat corporate governance code.

This will see the cancellation of the restricted exchangeability of certificates limited to a maximum of 15%, and provide full voting rights to certificate holders under all circumstances.

Overall, the Dutch securities services specialist stated it was “satisfied” with its 2005 results, and experienced “healthy growth”.

While interest income dropped (due to low interest rates), European business grew steadily. According to KAS, value-added services such as treasury and risk management “also formed a positive factor”.

The annual figures will be released on 7 March 2006.

In other news, the €38.1bn UK-based hedge fund group MAN has posted institutional sales of €415.9m for the fiscal third quarter.

The split of funds under management includes €15.4bn for institutional (up from €15.3bn on 30 September 2005) and €22.7bn for private investors (up from €21.6bn on 30 September 2005).


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