Inertia as a tactic: Trafigura's ‘Belgian Torpedo’
- Joachim Vansanten
- Jul 18
- 2 min read
The wheels of justice turn slowly – too slowly – and this undermines the credibility of the rule of law. In an opinion piece in De Tijd, columnist Rik Van Cauwelaert hits the nail on the head when he states that these delaying tactics are eroding the boundaries of legal certainty.
The opinion maker refers, among other things, to the protracted Nyrstar case, in which minority shareholders have been fighting commodity giant Trafigura for years. It is a textbook example of what Van Cauwelaert calls the Belgian torpedo: the judicial backlog in Belgium is strategically abused to torpedo a case by putting it on the back burner.
In Belgium, it is astonishingly easy to drag out proceedings indefinitely. In financial cases, too, powerful players such as Trafigura use their ‘staying power’ as a weapon, hoping that smaller shareholders will be forced to throw in the towel. For example, Trafigura awarded tens of millions of euros to Nyrstar (partly through loans), mainly to finance legal proceedings against minority shareholders who are convinced that the company was looted on the Belgian stock exchange.
The stock market regulator FSMA also has serious questions about the modus operandi in the Nyrstar case. The FSMA's sanctions committee will soon rule on market manipulation and misleading communication. At the same time, a criminal investigation is also underway in Antwerp for, among other things, misuse of company assets. But all this is progressing slowly, says Van Cauwelaert. The investigations and legal proceedings in the Nyrstar-Trafigura case have been going on for about six years now.
The judicial backlog in Belgium is strategically abused to torpedo a case by putting it on the back burner. (Rik Van Cauwelaert)
The delaying tactics in this and other cases undermine confidence in the rule of law. In a democracy, the judiciary should be the final arbiter, not an obstacle. As long as slowness remains a strategy and justice becomes a means of postponing justice, the Belgian torpedo will continue to be a threat to every citizen who believes in the principle of equality before the law.
In a case where two billion euros are at stake, this will not be the last Belgian torpedo, but that does not suit the minority shareholders. The fight will continue unabated and even be stepped up until justice is done for the aggrieved investors. In doing so, the minority shareholders are also endorsing a social goal. They want to tackle the systemic flaws so that the rule of law is upheld and confidence in the Brussels stock exchange is restored.
automated translation by Deepl
