Introduction
The collapse of financial powerhouse Lehman Brothers in
September 2008 marked the start of a financial crisis that
demonstrated the true meaning of globalization. The financial
landscape was different in 1993 when Vie d'Or, a life insurance
company established in the South of the Netherlands went bankrupt.
That left about 11,000 Dutch policy holders without a life
insurance plan and with damages estimated at EUR 80 million.
In the Netherlands, similar to many other European countries,
there is a strong reliance on regulatory oversight and enforcement.
The general belief is that regulators are put in place to prevent
the collapse of financial institutions. When an exceptional event
takes place the Government is expected to provide a solution or at
the very least to somehow facilitate a compensation scheme for the
victims. The case study of the Vie d'Or litigation and
settlement offers an insider view of how mass disputes are dealt
with in a civil law
