Report of the Executive Board on Internal Control Over
Financial Reporting
The Executive Board is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting. ING’s internal control over financial reporting is a process designed under the supervision of our principal executive and principal financial offi cers to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with
generally accepted accounting principles.
Our internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that:
- pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of ING;
- provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that our receipts and expenditures are being made only in accordance with authorisations of our management and directors; and
- provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorised acquisition, use or disposition of our assets that could have a material effect on our financial statements.
Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.
The Executive Board assessed the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of 31 December 2007. In making this assessment, the Executive Board performed tests based on the criteria of the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) in Internal Control – Integrated Framework. Based on the Executive Board’s assessment and those criteria, the Executive Board concluded that the company’s internal control over financial reporting is effective as of 31 December 2007.
Our independent registered public accounting fi rm has audited and issued their report on ING’s internal control over financial reporting, which appears on the following page.
AMSTERDAM, 17 MARCH 2008
Michel Tilmant
chairman Executive Board