Jean-Paul Votron was thought to be preparing his resignation as chief executive of Fortis yesterday, weeks after the bancassurer infuriated investors by raising €8.3 billion (£6.5 billion) to prop up a balance sheet stretched by last year's acquisition of ABN Amro.

An announcement that Mr Votron is to step down from the Belgian-Dutch financial group could come as early as today after an unscheduled board meeting to discuss the unrest caused by the surprise capital-raising.

Fortis angered shareholders when it said last month that it would bolster its finances by selling €1.5 billion of new stock, as well as scrapping its interim dividend and selling a number of assets. The announcement wiped almost 20 per cent, or €4.3 billion, off Fortis's share price.

Belgian news reports said yesterday that Mr Votron would be replaced by Filip Dierckx, the chairman of Fortis Bank. Fortis declined to comment on Mr Votron's future but said: “The board members will discuss in particular the public reaction to the announcement made on June 26.”

Fortis paid about €24 billion for a share of ABN Amro's operations as part of last year's €71 billion break-up bid by a Royal Bank of Scotland-led consortium. The bancassurer financed its part of the deal with a €13.4 billion rights issue and a series of disposals. The consortium has since been criticised for overpaying just before the global banking industry was hit by an unprecedented liquidity squeeze.

A decision by Mr Votron to step down would reignite controversy over the tenure of Sir Fred Goodwin, the RBS chief executive, who was the force behind the ABN acquisition. Sir Fred has also been criticised for denying that his bank needed extra capital before announcing a £12 billion rights issue and for changing the half-year shareholder payout from cash to shares.

Analysts were unsure that Mr Votron's departure would be good for Fortis. One said: “It wouldn't be a complete surprise because, from the market's standpoint, he over-paid for ABN, the timing was terrible and there were communications shortcomings over the capital increase. But he was the one that planned the integration of ABN and anyone coming in would have to pick it up, which would probably lead to delays.”

This month Fortis sold ABN's Dutch commercial banking operations to Deutsche Bank for €709 million, €300 million less than the business's net asset value. The disposal was part of an agreement with European regulators under competition law. On Wednesday Fortis sold its London hedge fund business, International Asset Management, to a management team backed by Sir Ronald Cohen, the co-founder of Apax Partners, for an undisclosed sum.

Delor, the Belgian consumer claims group, said this week that it would take legal action against Fortis on behalf of investors who had lost money after believing the company's previous assurances. Test Aankoop, a consumer group, and Deminor, the investor group, demanded last week that Fortis hold an extraordinary meeting.

VEB, the Dutch shareholder group, said yesterday that it might sue Fortis if the group did not answer by today questions about its capital raising.

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