FORTIS in Guernsey is to become two separate independent businesses.

As of tomorrow, its banking operation, which includes the investment side of the business, will be renamed MeesPierson (CI) Limited.

In June, the rest of the business, which comprises the trust and corporate services, tax and fund administration operations will become part of the global Intertrust network.

However, the Intertrust side of the business will retain the Reads name and be known as Intertrust Reads.

The changes have come about following a strategic review of Fortis by the Dutch government, which took a major stake in the Dutch assets of the group last year, along with those of ABN Amro, when confidence among shareholders fell sharply during Fortis’s plans to buy ABN Amro.

‘The acquisition was fine in a bull market, but in a market that was in a rapid downturn, there was a question mark as to whether we could afford it and whether we should afford it,’ said group commercial director Rick Denton (pictured).

‘That led to doubts by shareholders which meant we had to be supported by national governments to support our balance sheets.’

But the decision by the Dutch government that Fortis Bank Netherlands, which owned the local group, would develop its trust business independently will not result in any redundancies, according to Mr Denton.