Brussels  - Shareholders in Dutch-Belgian bank Fortis on Wednesday rejected its emergency nationalization, throwing into chaos state plans to split up the crisis-hit lender.

In two votes, 57 per cent of shareholders rejected the sale of the Dutch parts of the bank to the Dutch state, while just over half of shareholders rejected the sale of the bank's Belgian arm to the Belgian state, and thence to French banking giant BNP Paribas, local media reported.

The move by shareholders such as China's Ping An insurance giant poses a formidable challenge to a deal drawn up between the Belgian and Dutch governments and BNP Paribas on October 10.

According to the deal, the Dutch arm of Fortis was to be sold to the Dutch government, while the Belgian state was to take over the bank's Belgian division and sell it on to BNP Paribas.

Fortis shareholders vowed to oppose the deal. At the end of 2008 a Belgian court upheld their complaints and froze the sale.

At the height of the row, Belgium's then-prime minister Yves Leterme reportedly tried to pressurize judges into accepting the sale. The scandal led to his resignation on December 20. (dpa)