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UPDATE 2-Court declares brokerage Van der Moolen bankrupt

Published 09/10/2009, 05:31 AM

* Administrators say firm will be liquidated

* Stock still trading despite warning of no value

(Updates with bankruptcy, share price, background)

By Ben Berkowitz

AMSTERDAM, Sept 10 (Reuters) - Dutch brokerage Van der Moolen Holding was declared bankrupt on Thursday, succumbing to the credit crisis and a series of management missteps after 117 years at the centre of the world's biggest stock exchanges.

Van der Moolen shares lost more than two-thirds of their value, taking the market capitalization to just over 4 million euros. There were still buyers for the stock, though, even as administrators warned nothing would be left for shareholders.

Van der Moolen was one of the most prominent names on Wall Street in the 1980s and 1990s as a top market maker with a substantial floor trading business. In Amsterdam it was called "King of the Damrak," a reference to the location of the local stock market.

But as electronic trading took over and competition got tougher, Van der Moolen shrank and eventually withdrew from the United States almost entirely.

Over the last couple of years the company struggled to refine its business model, unsuccessfully fashioning itself as a trader of options and derivatives. In the end, it could not meet its financial obligations and administrators concluded there was nothing left to salvage.

The administrators will hold a press conference at 1200 GMT to discuss the company's liquidation.

The firm's surrender comes one month after it sought creditor protection and less than two months after Chief Executive Richard Den Drijver resigned and acting management said it would need to raise capital.

Den Drijver was once one of the largest shareholders in Van der Moolen, with a stake of more than 10 percent after selling his company to Van der Moolen in 2006 and taking over the combined group. He sold his shares for pennies after leaving. (Editing by Hans Peters)

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