Embattled Dutch bank SNS Reaal faces €408m claim on Spanish project

Dutch bank and insurance group SNS Reaal faces a claim of over €408 mln for a golf resort in southern Spain.

The Netherlands’ fourth-largest bank, which is wrestling with heavy losses on its property loan portfolio, pulled out of the project in 2008 when the financial crisis broke out. Dutch project developer Ronald Ras claims that the withdrawal was premature and unilateral and that the bank should have provided an alternative financier.

SNS Property Finance confirmed to PropertyEU that it has received a request for payment from Ras but not an official legal claim or court summons. The bank said it is also owed €130 mln by Ras.

Work on the project in Murcia - slated at the time to become Spain’s biggest golf resort - began in 2000 and was financed by Bouwfonds, which was taken over by SNS Reaal in 2006. Ras said he will maintain the site until end-January.

The news come at a time that SNS Reaal is struggling to keep its head above water due to rising losses on its real estate portfolio. Accountants Ernst & Young reportedly warned the bank in 2010 to write off around €1.2 bn on its international loans. SNS is said to have ignored this advice, holding back its recovery and limiting its ability to repay the €750 mln in state aid it received in 2008.

SNS Reaal said last October it was considering a ‘bad bank’ for its property finance unit to cope with the expected losses there and help pay back the state aid.

Market commentators say the bank will likely need a fresh capital injection from the state to keep it afloat. A collapse is highly unlikely due to the bank’s size and importance to the Dutch economy.

SNS Reaal is due to present its annual figures for 2012 together with a strategic reorientation plan on 14 February.