The future of Fortis was thrown into doubt on Wednesday when shareholders voted against selling parts of the financial group to BNP Paribas, the French bank, and against the nationalising the banking and insurance group in the Netherlands.

Fortis was one of the first European banks to seek a state bail-out last September when it faced an acute liquidity crisis but has since been split into nationalised Dutch banking and insurance businesses, a state-owned Belgian bank, and the listed group running the remaining insurance arm. Ping An, the Chinese insurer, is the biggest shareholder in Fortis with a stake of about 5 per cent.