The ING Group (Dutch: ING Groep) is a global financial institution offering retail banking, direct banking, commercial banking, investment banking, asset management, and insurance services. ING is an abbreviation for Internationale Nederlanden Groep (English: International Netherlands Group).

The Orange Lion on ING's logo is a play on the Group's Dutch origins under the House of Orange-Nassau.^[3] ING is the Dutch member of the Inter-Alpha Group of Banks, a cooperative consortium of 11 prominent European banks.^[4]

According to Fortune magazine, in 2010 ING was the largest banking/financial services & insurance conglomerate in the world by revenue with gross receipts exceeding €54 billion (US$77 billion) per annum.^[5] The Group is also the world's 12th largest corporation by revenue according to the Global Fortune 500.^[6] As of 2009, ING served over 85 million individual and institutional clients in more than 45 countries, with a worldwide workforce exceeding 100,000.

History[link]

ING Group traces its roots to two major Insurance companies in the Netherlands and the banking services of the Dutch government.

Insurance[link]

In 1845 the fire insurance company the Assurantie Maatschappij tegen Brandschade de Nederlanden van 1845 (Fire insurance company of the Netherlands established 1845) was founded and grew to be the first insurance company with branches outside the Netherlands, of which it had 139 the world over by 1900. Two decades later in 1863 the life insurance company Nationale Levensverzekerings Bank (National Life Insurance Bank) was founded in Rotterdam. These two insurance companies would merge to form the combined insurance company the Nationale-Nederlanden in 1963. The combined insurance company would expand significantly during the 1970s and 1980s.^[7]

Banking[link]

In 1881 the Dutch government created the Rijkspostspaarbank a postal savings system to encourage workers to start saving. Four decades later they added the Postcheque and Girodienst services allowing working families to make payments via post offices. Separately in 1927 the Dutch government initiated a reorganisation of Dutch banks which resulted in the creation of the Nederlandsche Middenstands Bank (NMB). NMBs focus was retail banking in the Netherlands and abroad.

In 1986 the post office banking services were privatised as Postbank N.V. and three years later it would merge with NMB bank to form NMB Postbank.

Merger of banking and insurance[link]

In 1991 the banking business of NMB Postbank and the insurance business of Nationale-Nederlanden were merged to create ING Group, after changes in regulation that allowed banks and insurance businesses to work together.

Overseas expansion[link]

ING Group expanded its international business through a number of acquisitions through the 1990s including Belgium bank Bank Bruxelles Lambert (BBL) in 1998, US based insurance company Equitable of Iowa and the commercial bank Furman Selz. It also acquired Frankfurt based BHF-Bank in 1999, although disposed of this later. It increased its Latin American and Asia Pacific's insurance businesses with the acquisition of ReliaStar and Aetna's Financial Services unit. It also acquired the Polish Bank Śląski and Mexican insurance company Seguros Comercial América.

However it was the 1995 purchase of Barings Bank after its dramatic failure that saw of ING Groups investment banking business boosted significantly.

To expanding its retail banking business overseas, rather than create a branch network, it used the direct banking business model it had develop with NMB Postbank to launch an overseas direct banking businesses called ING Direct. The first of these was set up in Canada in 1997, this was soon followed in a number of other countries including the US, UK, Germany, France and Australia. The no frills high rate savings accounts that could only be accessed on-line were a successful venture and spawned a number of similar services from rival banks.

In the late-2000s financial crisis ING Group, together with most other major banks in the Netherlands, took a capital injection from the Dutch Government in 2008 as part of its response to the crisis. This support increase INGs capital ratio above 8%, however as a condition of Dutch state aid, the EU demanded a number of changes to the company structure. This resulted in divestiture of a number of businesses around the world, which included insurance businesses in Canada, Australia and New Zealand and the ING Direct unit in the US.

Global operations[link]

ING Group global locations

ING has offices in:

Global headquarters[link]

ING House, ING headquarters in Amsterdam

The Group's corporate headquarters, ING House, is located in the business district of Zuidas in Amsterdam, Netherlands. It was designed by Roberto Meyer and Jeroen van Schooten and was officially inaugurated on September 16, 2002 by Prince Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands. The light-infused building features a 250-seat auditorium, foyer, restaurant, and library. The building also houses an extensive art collection.

Recent notable transactions[link]

Latin American divestment[link]

In July 2011, ING divested all its Latin American insurance operations to the Colombian insurance group GrupoSura for US$3.85 billion, excluding ING's 36 percent holding in Brazilian insurer Sul America which will be sold at a later date. Sul America officially starts operating the ING Investment Management, Wealth Management, Retire Funds and Pension businesses in Latin America (Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru and Uruguay) in February 13, 2012. ING Commercial Bank will keep its operations in Mexico.

The actions are in line with EU demands to split the Group's banking and insurance operations as a condition of Dutch state aid (see below).^[8]

Capital injection and repayment[link]

In October 2008, in a move to increase its core Tier 1 capital ratio above 8%, ING Group accepted a capital injection plan from the Dutch Government. The plan supplied €10 billion (US$13.5 billion) to the operation, in exchange for securities and veto rights on major operational changes and investments. The European Commission also required ING to divest itself of its insurance and investment management operations by the end of 2013 as a condition of approving the state aid.

Wouter Bos, the Dutch Finance Minister at the time, said the Dutch government's investment was done as a means of fortifying the bank to weather the financial crisis. Management stated that the capital injection shall have no dilutive impact to existing shareholders. As part of the agreement, two government advisers have been appointed to the Supervisory Board of the Group.

In Dec 2009, ING raised €7.3 billion through share issues, and repurchased securities representing half of the €10 billion in state aid. It repurchased another €2 billion in May 2011 (at a 50% premium), and looked to complete the repayments by May 2012. However, in January 2012 it cited eurozone conditions in putting the repayment timetable as 2012-2013 for the remaining €3 billion.

Divisions[link]

Retail banking[link]

ING offers retail banking services in the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Poland, Romania, Turkey, India, Thailand and China. Non-retail private banking services are offered in the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland and various countries in Asia and Central Europe.

In the Netherlands, ING is the largest retail bank by market share, holding 40% of current account deposits.^[9] ING is followed by Rabobank (30%), ABN AMRO (20%), and others (10%).

Outside of the Benelux, ING's current focus is on Central & Eastern Europe, as well as certain high-growth regions in Asia. In India, ING has a 44% stake in ING Vysya Bank and is the Indian bank's largest shareholder. In China, ING has a 17% stake in the Bank of Beijing, the largest urban commercial bank in China. In Thailand, ING has a 30% stake in TMB Bank, a universal banking platform with a nationwide network.

ING Direct[link]

ING Direct is the Group's brand for a branchless direct bank with operations in Australia, Austria, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States. It offers services over the web, phone, ATM or by mail. The service currently focuses on simple interest-bearing savings accounts for retail customers. ING Direct Italy is currently opening its own "bank shops" in the major towns, where customers can operate services on usual web channels, assisted or not by branch operators, and use advanced teller machines for cash and check transactions.

ING Direct Canada[link]

ING's history in Canada goes back to 1997 when it founded ING Direct Canada. As recently as July 2011, ING Direct Canada had over 1.7 million clients, employed over 900 people and had over US$37.6 billion in assets. ING Direct Canada has five 'Save Your Money Cafés' in the major cities of Toronto, Montréal, Calgary and Vancouver. Recently, ING Direct Canada announced the closure of their bilingual (French & English) office located in Ottawa Ontario Canada.^{[citation needed]} and moved its operations to Moncton New Brunswick.^[10]

Its products include savings accounts, tax-free savings accounts (TFSAs), mortgages, retirement savings plans (RSPs), guaranteed investments (GICs), mutual funds, business accounts and a no-fee daily checking accounts.

ING Direct Canada is a member of the Canadian Bankers Association (CBA) and registered member with the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation (CDIC), a federal agency insuring deposits of all Canada's chartered banks. ING Direct Canada operates as Banking Institution #614, Transit #00152.^[11]

As of February 2009, ING Canada (the insurance arm) is no longer a subsidiary of ING Group. ING Group's 70% equity interest was spun off for US$2.2 billion. The company (which has an 11% share of Canada's property and casualty insurance market) was then renamed Intact Financial Corporation in May 2009. ING Group still operates ING Bank of Canada, also known as ING Direct Canada.^[12]

ING Direct United States[link]

Part of ING at night in Minneapolis, Minnesota in the United States

ING Direct was founded in 2000, with its headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware. ING Direct is a member of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).

In September 2007, ING Direct acquired 104,000 customers and FDIC insured assets from a failed virtual bank NetBank.^[13] Two months later, ING Direct acquired online stock broker Sharebuilder.^[14]

In June 2011, ING announced an agreement to sell ING Direct USA for a total consideration of US$9 billion (€6.3 billion) to Capital One Financial Corporation, a leading US-based financial holding company. Under the terms of the agreement, ING will receive US$6.2 billion in cash and US$2.8 billion in the form of 55.9 million shares in Capital One. With its pro forma 9.9% stake, ING will become the largest single shareholder in Capital One. The sale of ING Direct USA to Capital One is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2011 and is subject to regulatory consent. After closing, ING has the right to be represented by one member of the Board of Directors of Capital One.^[15]

The sale was completed on June 16, 2011 with the CEO of ING Group at that time Jan Hommen saying the sale "marks a further important step in the restructuring of ING Group. Yet at the same time we are saying goodbye to a very successful business and a dedicated team ...".^[16]

ING Direct UK[link]

ING Direct began operations in the UK in May 2003 and has over one million customers. Operations are based in Reading, where the company head office is situated as well as an office based in the city of Cardiff. The bank markets itself as offering good customer service and high interest rates, which are usually higher than its high street competitors, but not always top of comparison tables.^[17] The bank has picked up awards for its customer services and mortgage product in 2008 and 2009.^[18]

On October 8, 2008, ING purchased the savings accounts of the collapsed Icelandic bank, Kaupthing Singer & Friedlander, the UK Treasury used the Banking (Special Provisions) Act 2008 to transfer the Kaupthing Edge deposit business to ING Direct.^[19] Through this, ING Direct took over responsibility for £2.5 billion of deposits of 160,000 UK customers with the Icelandic bank Kaupthing Edge. Some customers were dissatisfied^[20] after ING lowered the exceptional high rate the collapsed Kaupthing was previously paying.

ING Directs products in the UK include Savings Accounts, Cash ISAs, Mortgages and Home insurance.

ING Direct Australia[link]

ING Direct Australia was established in 1999 and is headquartered in Sydney, offering banking online and via telephone. Its products in Australia include Transaction accounts, Savings accounts, Business accounts, Term deposits and Home loans.

The company's operations are regulated by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, Federal Government regulators. ING Direct is a division of ING Bank (Australia).

In October 2008, ING Direct suffered a US$749 million outflow of deposit funds. There had been some confusion as to whether or not the Australian Government's guarantee over funds on deposit applied to deposits up to US$1 million with ING DIRECT Australia. Once it was confirmed that the Guarantee did apply to ING DIRECT Australia, outflows that had been solely attributed to this situation slowed and deposits returned.^{[citation needed]}

Commercial banking[link]

ING Commercial Banking, London office

ING Commercial Banking provides banking and financial services to corporations and other institutions. The primary geographic focus of the commercial banking business is the Netherlands, Belgium, Poland and Romania, where it offers a full range of products, from cash management to corporate finance. Elsewhere, it takes a more selective approach to clients and products.

ING Commercial Banking was strengthened in 1995, when ING took over Barings Bank. This acquisition increased the brand recognition of ING around the world and strengthened its Commercial Banking presence in the emerging markets. Following the acquisition and up until 2004, ING's investment banking division was called ING Barings, at which point it severed its ties with the Barings name and combined with ING's other commercial banking operations. However, the top floor of ING's London office is still home to the Baring Art Collection,^[21] and the Baring Foundation,^[22] a charitable foundation.

Commercial Banking is divided into a number of sub-divisions, including Structured Finance, Financial Markets, and Corporate Finance.

Corporate finance[link]

ING's Corporate Finance department advises businesses on important corporate transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, initial public offerings, secondary offerings, share buy-backs and management buy-outs. The division is headed jointly by Maurits Duynstee (Head of Corporate Finance, Continental Western Europe) and Pierre Chabrelie (Head of Corporate Finance, UK and CEE). The bank has advised on a number of recent high-profile European transactions including satellite navigation manufacturer TomTom in a €359m rights issue, energy supplier Nuon in its €8.5bn sale to Vattenfall, and printer-maker Océ in its €1.3bn merger with Canon. ING was the leading advisor in the Dutch M&A league tables in 2009.^[23]

ING Corporate finance has a strong presence in Russia and Central and Eastern Europe. In 2009 ING advised Mobile TeleSystems OJSC (MTS), Russia's largest mobile operator, in its acquisition of a 51% stake in Comstar UTS for USD 1.27bn,^[24] and Russia-focussed oil producer, Exillon Energy on its USD 100m IPO.^[25]

Insurance[link]

ING's insurance business operates throughout America, Asia and Europe.

In 2009, ING announced plans to separate its insurance business from its main banking operations through two IPO's, one for Europe and Asia and another one the US. The EuroAsia IPO has been delayed while the US IPO is supposed to be completed by the end of 2012. Analysts estimate that the insurance arm is worth up to €16 billion.^[26]

ING Australia[link]

ING Australia was purchased by ANZ in 2009, and rebranded as "OnePath" in 2010.^[27] ING Direct Australia remains part of the ING group.

In December 2011, it was reported that ING Australia had been defrauded of US$45 million by an employee.^[28] She was convicted and sentenced to 15 years jail.^[29]

ING Investment Management[link]

ING Investment Management is the principal asset manager of the Group and a leading global asset manager. Against the background of the Group realizing its global ambitions, ING Investment Management has also expanded across borders. Today, it is active in 33 countries, including some of the world’s fastest-growing economies, such as China, India, Brazil and many Eastern European nations. ING Investment Management operates along regional lines with centers of expertise in Europe, the Americas and Asia-Pacific.

ING Investment Management provides a comprehensive range of investment solutions and services to clients and partners. It manages assets for institutional clients, fund distributors and ING labels, with approximately €326 billion in AUM. Over 3,200 professionals manage client funds globally.^[30]

Sponsorships[link]

ING New York City Marathon

ING sponsors a variety of sporting events and artistic exhibitions throughout the world.

Sporting[link]

For several years, ING has been the title sponsor of various marathons including the New York City Marathon, the Miami Marathon, the Georgia Marathon, the Hartford Marathon, the Philadelphia Distance Run and San Francisco's Bay to Breakers.

ING is a major global sponsor of football/soccer, sponsoring the Royal Dutch Football Association and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).^[31]

ING was the title sponsor of the Renault Formula One team from the 2007 season to the 2009 season. It was also the title sponsor of the Australian Grand Prix and Belgian Grand Prix, the Hungarian Grand Prix, and the Turkish Grand Prix. ING ended its sponsorship of Renault in part due to a reduction in advertising spending, and in part due to controversy surrounding the Renault Formula One team.^[32]

The arts[link]

ING's sponsorships in the arts include the Dutch National Museum in Amsterdam (the Rijksmuseum), the New York Museum of Modern Art, and also the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. ING also owns and houses a number of proprietary art collections located in Belgium, Mexico, the Netherlands, Poland and the United Kingdom.^[33]

ING also sponsored the Amsterdam Gay Pride of 2008.^[34]

See also[link]

	Netherlands portal
	Companies portal

• European Financial Services Roundtable
• Inter-Alpha Group of Banks

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: ING

ING websites[link]

• ING.com ING Group mobile
• ING Commercial Banking
• ING Real Estate
• ING Investment Management
• ING Commercial Banking France

Other websites[link]

• ING Group Headquarters, Galinsky architecture database
• ING Direct U.S. rate history (2001-present)

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