AMSTERDAM -- The Dutch central bank shuttered DSB Bank NV, a struggling consumer and mortgage lender, after a run by depositors that followed a call from a consumer group to pull money out of the controversial institution.
The government said it would begin an investigation into what happened at the bank, a privately owned institution with reported assets of some €8 billion ($11.77 billion).
The DSB seizure was described by the government as a one-off situation unconnected with last year's financial crisis. However, it dealt a further blow to a financial system hit hard by a global credit crunch that resulted in the nationalization of former financial giant Fortis and in multi-billion-euro state bailouts for ING Groep NV and insurer Aegon NV.
The takeover of DSB, which said it had 1.3 million clients, came after weekend talks between the government and the country's five main banks failed to find a way to save it.
