A low valuation of the property portfolio held by Dutch financial services group SNS Reaal before it was nationalised has been upheld by a second assessment, Dutch financial daily FD reported on Thursday.

The original Cushman & Wakefield valuation was far lower than SNS Reaal - and its accountant and supervisory authority - had assumed it would be. Following failed efforts to find new investors, the bank was nationalised by the Dutch government.

Earlier this month it emerged that the Dutch finance ministry has commissioned US investment management giant BlackRock Solutions to make a new assessment of C&W's evaluation. According to anonymous sources cited by FD, C&W has 'correctly interpreted and applied' the valuation method. ‘BlackRock has come to the conclusion that Cushman did it in an acceptable way,’ the paper quotes a source as saying.

The nationalisation of the Netherlands’ fourth-largest bank SNS in early February following heavy losses on its property financing arm was preceded by a valuation squabble involving Cushman & Wakefield - which advised the Dutch state - and SNS' adviser Ernst & Young.

At the heart of the row were different valuation methods which led to a gap in the value put on SNS’ property loan portfolio. Based on market value, Ernst & Young estimated the writedowns on the €8 bn SNS PF portfolio at €1.4 bn to €2.1 bn.

Using the real economic value (REV) method prescribed by the European Union since the start of the economic crisis for governments seeking to rescue ailing banks, Cushman & Wakefield estimated the writedowns to be far higher, at between €2.4 bn and €3.2 bn.

The REV method calculates the underlying economic value of the assets in the long term, giving their real value in economic trading terms. The market value, on the other hand, is an indication of the price at which the portfolio would trade in the current market. It was the REV valuation which ultimately triggered the intervention by the state and subsequent nationalisation of SNS.

If BlackRock does not uphold Cushman's valuation, investors who lost everything when the bank was taken over by the state would be able to sue for compensation.

Another investigation into C&W’s approach to SNS’s property is currently being undertaken by the European Commission.