Politicians have failed by Dexia

The splitting up of the Franco-Belgian bank Dexia is causing serious problems for the Belgian communities. Gemeentelijke Holding, in which many communities are shareholders, had invested a large part of its assets in Dexia and is now threatened with bankruptcy. The state control measures failed miserably, writes the left-liberal daily De Morgen: "Both at Dexia and at Gemeentelijke Holding the supervisory boards and general meetings were full of political representatives, and the result is plain for all to see. ... The politicians sat on the boards of Dexia and Gemeentelijke Holding not as controllers or supervisors, but as interested parties whose only goal was to keep the cash flowing so they could continue living the high life. Exactly what brought the dividends in was of secondary importance to them. In future we will have to see more state control over the financial world, but what we don't need is more politicians as active members of supervisory boards."

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