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Notice of changes to interest rate benchmarks

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Some interest rate benchmarks have been or will be discontinued or reformed. Those that will discontinue will or have been replaced with alternative benchmark rates that meet regulatory and market requirements. If any of your financial products or internal processes refer to these rates, the following information is relevant for you.

What is changing?

This overview shows how ING, in line with regulatory guidance, is implementing these transitions.

USD LIBOR USD LIBOR

  • From 1 January 2022, ING typically no longer offers new USD LIBOR. contracts. Consistent with industry guidance an exception to this are contracts taken out to help risk manage existing positions or the transition to alternative rates.
  • ING offers a variety of products based on the recommended alternative SOFR and other alternative benchmark rates.
  • In line with regulatory guidance, it is ING’s intention to actively transition all of its legacy USD LIBOR contracts before 30 June 2023. Thereafter USD LIBOR will no longer be available on a representative basis.

GBP, JPY and CHF LIBOR

  • These LIBOR rates ceased on 31 December 2021.
  • ING no longer offers products based on GBP, JPY and CHF LIBOR.
  • ING offers a variety of products based on the respective alternative rates of SONIA, TONAR and SARON.

EONIA Euro rates

  • Publication of EONIA ceased on 3 January 2022 and we have therefore stopped offering contracts based on EONIA and now offer a variety of products based on the overnight rate for the euro €STR.
  • EURIBOR was reformed in 2019 and is expected to remain in place for the foreseeable future.
  • The Working Group on Euro Risk-Free Rates has set out its recommended fallbacks for cash products and derivative contracts referencing EURIBOR.

What does this mean for you?

The discontinuation and replacement of a rate with an alternative benchmark may impact the products and services made available to you and those that we may provide in the future. Existing products using such rates may also need to be transitioned to accommodate the switch to an alternative benchmark.

We encourage you to familiarise yourself with the new interest rate benchmarks. Some links are provided below and a frequently asked questions document specifically focusing on LIBOR transition.

At this stage in the transition, you may want to engage independent consultants for example for legal, tax and accounting advice to review the contractual terms governing any USD LIBOR exposures that mature beyond June 2023 including an assessment of the robustness of any fallback language. You may also need to consider the potential impact on your business from an accounting, tax and regulatory perspective as well as the impact on treasury and risk management systems and processes.

How is ING responding to this?

ING welcomes the move to more robust and reliable benchmark rates, and continues to work with regulators, industry bodies and trade associations to facilitate a smooth transition. We will continue to update you throughout the various transitions and timelines.

Fallback Plan

The Benchmark Regulation mentioned above requires ING to have a robust plan that sets out the actions we will take in case a benchmark rate ceases to exist or materially changes. Each ING legal entity has a Fallback Plan. The Dutch Authority for Financial Markets monitors the Fallback Plan of ING Bank N.V. which can be found here:

Benchmark regulation – Robust written plan - ING Bank N.V. (PDF 0,1 MB)

Questions?

We will continue to update you on this topic via our frequently asked questions and refer you the various websites above for more information. The information on this site is not intended to be a complete or an exhaustive overview.

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