Dexia, the Franco-Belgian bank, has launched legal proceedings against Aegon, the Dutch insurer, over liabilities from a subsidiary Aegon sold Dexia two years ago.

Legal battles with customers of Labouchere, a bank Dexia paid €896m ($896m) for in 2000, could cost it hundreds of millions of euros more, according to the Franco-Belgian firm. The bank has yet to reveal exactly how much it has set aside for claims, but has said it will seek to recover some of the damages from Aegon.