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Dutch gov't to inject 10 billion euros into ING group+(Japan Economic Newswire Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) BRUSSELS, Oct. 20_(Kyodo) _ The Dutch Finance Ministry said Sunday it will inject about 10 billion euros in public funds into the country's largest financial group, ING Groep NV, to shore up its capital base amid the global financial crisis. ING, which has group assets worth about 1.37 trillion euros, said Friday it expects to post a net loss of about 500 million euros in the July-September period, which triggered a sharp fall in its share price. Launched in 1991 by the merger of insurance firm Nationale-Nederlanden and the NMB Postbank Group, ING said Sunday it will issue non-voting core tier-1 securities worth a total of 10 billion euros to be purchased by the Dutch government. The firm said ING has the right to buy back all or some of the securities at any time at 150 percent of the issue price. The public fund injection will allow ING to reduce its debt equity ratio and strengthen the insurance balance sheet. "Market conditions have changed dramatically in recent weeks and have led to an internationally recognized belief that going forward, in this market environment, capital requirements for financial institutions should be higher," said Michel Tilmant, chief executive officer of ING, in a statement. ING, which rapidly expanded its businesses overseas, including Japan and the rest of Asia, ranked ninth in 2008 global corporate rankings compiled by U.S. business magazine Forbes. The Dutch government said earlier this month it will nationalize the Dutch unit of Belgium banking group Fortis NV for 16.8 billion euros as part of its effort to stabilize the faltering global financial system. Copyright ? 2008 Kyodo News International, Inc. |