ING and the parliamentary inquiry
On 11 April 2012 a Committee of the Dutch House of Representatives published its report “Credit Lost II – Taking stock”. Under the chairmanship of Member of Parliament Jan de Wit, the Committee investigated the measures taken by the Dutch government since September 2008 aimed at minimizing the impact of the credit crisis.
ING has taken notice of the findings and recommendations of the Committee. ING believes it is important to evaluate past actions in order to learn for the future and compliments the commission for its thorough analysis of this complex subject.
Since the crisis, based on the new economic reality, the regulatory environment and own insights, ING has taken decisive actions to reduce the size and complexity of the company and has implemented numerous changes to strengthen its financial position, risk management, governance model and remuneration structure. This happened in a context of an exceptionally wide range of new rules and regulations for the financial sector. More changes are still being developed.
ING will further review and assess the report of the Committee, taking into account the international context and the interests of all stakeholders, first of all its customers who count on ING to help them achieve their goals.
Background
The Parliamentary Inquiry Committee was established to document and analyze the implementation of government measures during the financial crisis of 2008/2009, focusing on the use of government funds. The commission based its findings on scores of documents, reports and correspondence between the relevant actors. From November 2011 until January 2012 a number of individuals involved in the government’s support operations were required to testify under oath before the Committee.
As the Committee closely examined all the support measures the Netherlands government took, this included the support to ING Group. Because of the exceptional circumstances, in October 2008 ING made use of a facility for financial assistance offered by the Dutch government, strengthening its capital position by selling 10 billion euro in core tier-1 securities to the State. Moreover, in January 2009, ING Group entered into an agreement with the State, in which the risk on 80% of ING’s portfolio of U.S. Alt-A mortgage securities was transferred to the state. Finally, in the first half of 2009, ING issued approximately 10 billion euro in bonds under a state guarantee.
ING is thankful for the measures the Dutch government took during this dramatic time to increase confidence in the financial sector and the banking system. ING has repaid the state over 9 billion euro in relation tot the capital strengthening, including 7 billion in principal and over 2 billion in interest and premiums. The guaranteed amount of the U.S. Alt-A mortgage securities has decreased by more than 50%. Of the bonds issued under state guarantees around 40% has since been redeemed.
Naturally, ING has cooperated fully with the inquiry Committee, explaining the circumstances that led to the government support and clarifying how the transactions were executed. CEO Jan Hommen and ING Bank Vice-Chairman Koos Timmermans (at the time, Chief Risk Officer) have publicly testified before the committee, as well as former ING Executive Board member Dick Harryvan and former Head of Capital Management Maarten van Eden.
For more information about the financial crisis and ING's role in it and the measures taken, you can check this website, or click here.
How to contact ING
Please use our contactform for your question.
Journalists can contact:
ING Media Relations
Bijlmerplein 888
1102 MG Amsterdam
The Netherlands
Tel: +31 (0)20 576 5000
media.relations@ing.com
Relevant pages on ING.com
- → ING Group Fact Sheet
- → Technical documentation on ING’s transactions with the Dutch state
- → More information about ING’s remuneration policy
External websites:
Interested to know more about ING?
Read our online magazine ing.world at http://ingworld.ing.com
