DSB bank has gone into receivership after it requested a suspension of payment at the weekend. The request came after customers started withdrawing their savings en masse from the embattled bank. A last minute take-over attempt by a consortium of five other banks failed.

The Rabobank, ING, ABN Amro, Fortis and SNS banks did not want to take over the bank because they feared claims from customers. They also feared losses on credit provided by the bank.  Savers with up to 100,000 euros in the bank have their funds guaranteed under a government scheme.

According to daily newspaper De Volkskrant, talks were held into the early hours of Monday morning between DSB officials, the Dutch Central Bank and Finance Minister Wouter Bos. Sources from the finance ministry say the government will not come to the rescue if the bank goes under. A court has reportedly granted a request for bankruptcy protection filed by the Central Bank.

DSB bank has suffered an onslaught of bad publicity recently. It is accused of selling expensive and unnecessary single-premium life insurance policies as a compulsory part of mortgage loans which far exceeded the value of the underlying property. Many customers have found themselves in financial difficulties as a result.

Two weeks ago, Pieter Lakeman, chairperson of a foundation set up to help the DSB bank's mortgage customers, appealed on a public radio programme to savings account holders to withdraw their money from the bank. There were fears that the call would spark off a bank run, but mysterious computer problems prevented customers from using internet services at the time. DSB stated that its website had been the victim of mass mailings bringing all the bank's internet activities to a halt. Later on a television news programme, Mr Lakeman said he wanted the bank to collapse so that his organisation could negotiate with the receivers rather than the bank's current management.

The bank's owner, multi-millionaire Dirk Scheringa, has been criticised in the past for dubious loans and contracts. Mr Scheringa also owns AZ football club, last year's premier league winner. The club says it held its own talks with the Dutch football association at the weekend after its main sponsor DSB appeared to be in difficuties. AZ says the sponsorship money for this year has already been paid. It is unclear whether other sports teams sponsored by the bank are in jeopardy.