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 Monday December 24 2001
ING and Piraeus Bank announce strategic alliance for the Greek market
Today, ING and Piraeus Bank signed an agreement with the intention to enter into a strategic alliance for the Greek market. The agreement envisages a strategic alliance through joint ventures in the fields of bancassurance, employee benefits and asset management, combining the distribution power of the retail banking network of Piraeus Bank and the agency network of NN Greece (300 branches and 2,500 agents in total).

Monday December 10 2001
Chairman of ING Group address Georgetown Business Ethics Institute
In a speech sponsored by the Georgetown Business Ethics Institute on November 28, 2001, Ewald Kist, chairman of the executive board of Amsterdam-based ING Group, said that transparency and balance are the keys to doing business responsibly in the 21st century. He urged his peers in the private sector to respond to heightened public expectations by elevating standards of corporate citizenship.

Thursday December 6 2001
ING Americas streamlines US operations and reduces expenses
ING Americas announces that it aims to further integrate ING's US insurance activities with those of Aetna and ReliaStar, in order to build a more customer-focussed organisation. This action is the next step in ING's existing integration plans and will reduce expenses in its US operations by USD 250-300 mln a year.

ING to axe 1600 jobs in US
ING on Thursday said it would cut 1,600 jobs in the US, or 15% of its workforce in North America, early next year. The move is expected to help the company save between USD 250 mln and USD 300 mln. "The weak US economy and difficult market conditions have challenged our efforts to reach our financial objectives.

Monday November 26 2001
BBL includes ING in its name
The Belgian and Dutch activities of Dutch financial group ING will be more closely connected to the brand name ING. Belgian bank BBL will include the name of its parent company ING in its own label next to the BBL logo. The Belgian bank will eventually use only the ING name. Dutch bank and insurance companies Nationale-Nederlanden, Postbank, C&E Bankiers, RVS, Regio Bank and Movir will also use the ING logo next to their own logo, without the direct intention of dropping their own brand name.

Thursday November 22 2001
ING and Zurich to establish strategic alliance in Canadian P&C insurance
ING Canada and Zurich North America Canada, on Thursday announced the formation of a strategic alliance aimed at consolidating their leadership positions in the Canadian property and casualty insurance industry. Under the terms of the alliance, ING will acquire Zurich's Canadian personal and group P&C insurance operations.

Wednesday November 21 2001
ING feels banking weakness
ING, the Dutch financial group, revealed a 7.7% fall in third-quarter net profits to Euros 901m (Dollars 791m), hit by weakness on its banking side, writes Gordon Cramb in Amsterdam. Its expanded insurance operations brought in nearly 19% more than a year earlier, but banking profits fell 42%. Cees Maas, chief financial officer, told that its equities business - which has already undergone substantial cuts - still had expenses out of line with a market where volumes were down and prices low.

Tuesday November 20 2001
ING net peofit rises by over 8%
ING, the Dutch financial group, saw its net operating profit rise by 8.4% to EUR 3.3 bn in the first nine months of this year. The group is sticking to its adjusted forecast dating from October, whereby earnings per share will rise by 5% this year. In the first three quarters of this year, earnings per share rose by 7.5%.

Wednesday November 14 2001
ING Direct awarded as Best International Direct Bank by Lafferty Group
ING Direct has been named Best International Direct Bank by the Lafferty Group. A global jury of 24 members, made up of a distinguished group of experts from the world of banking as well as Lafferty editors and researchers selected the winners from a short-list of global nominees. According to Lafferty, ING Direct reflects the type of institution that has been at the forefront of reshaping retail financial services since the consumer banking revolution got underway at the beginning of the 1980s.

Monday November 5 2001
ING makes public offer for Spanish real estate company
ING Real Estate has announced that it will make a public offer for all outstanding shares of the Spanish real estate company Filo. The company is mainly active in the development and management of shopping centres. Filo is a national corporation that ranks among the top 5 listed Spanish real estate companies.

Friday November 2 2001
ING launches EUR 261 m bid for Filo
ING has launched 261m euro (Pta43.427bn) takeover bid for 100% of Spanish property company Filo, which specialises in commercial centres, via its subsidiaries Real Estate and Bishop Investments Spain. Filo shares have gained 75.4% this year, buoyed by the announcement by its main shareholders that they were interested in involving other investors.

Monday October 29 2001
ING expands German direct banking and pension activities
ING Group announces that BGAG (investment company of German trade unions) intends to offer 21% of its share participation in DiBa (Allgemeine Deutsche Direktbank) for acquisition by ING Group. It is the intention to settle the transaction in the beginning of 2002. Through this transaction, ING will expand its 49% interest in DiBa to a majority interest of 70%.

Friday October 19 2001
ING re-brands Mexico retail operations in ING Comercial America
ING, which is one of the largest financial services organizations in Mexico, on Friday announced that it is re- branding all of its retail operations in Mexico, including Seguros Comercial America (SCA) and Afore Bital, under the name ING Comercial America. The organization's new name combines the brand equity of ING and SCA, which ING acquired in June 2001, to form a unified ING brand.

Monday October 15 2001
ING revisitsexposure to 11 september events and revises 2001 profit expectation
Based on the limited information available immediately after the 11-September events, ING estimated its exposure at EUR 50 mln before tax. INGis now able to give an updateof its previous estimate. Our analysis has shown that ING's US subsidiary ReliaStaris exposed to additional claims. These claims relate to losses incurred by companies that were based on the upper floors of the World Trade Center, through reinsurance of carriers that write workers' ; compensation contracts and personal-accident insurance.

Thursday October 11 2001
ING Direct cuts interst rate on its account to 4%
The Spanish subsidiary of ING Direct, the online banking arm of Dutch bank ING, will reduce the interest paid on its Cuenta Naranja account from 4.5% to 4%, with effect from 1 November. This new interest rate will apply to both present customers and those who have opened accounts since 12 October. This is the second cut in the interest paid on the account, which is a result of falling interest rates on the markets.

Friday October 5 2001
First Pacific hires ING Barings to seek buyer for Escotel stake
A realignment of forces in the local cellular telephony sector is gaining momentum, with First Pacific Company - the 49% stakeholder in Escotel Mobile - hiring Dutch financial powerhouse ING Barings to scout for a buyer for its stake even as NM Rothschilds is advising Escotel. As part of efforts to sweeten the deal for a potential entrant, the investment banker has devised a strategy to club the 49% First Pacific stake in Escotel Mobile by offering a like stake in Escorts Telecom, which won four licenses in the last round.

Wednesday September 26 2001
Japan lifts sanctions on ING
ING Barings said the Japanese government had formally accepted a set of measures that the Anglo-Dutch bank had taken to "improve" its research operations and business in Japan. The announcement comes after the Financial Supervisory Agency, the Japanese regulator, reprimanded ING Barings after it issued a critical report about Daiwa Bank, one of the weaker Japanese banking groups.

Wednesday September 19 2001
Impact of attacks in US on ING
With reference to the statement of Ewald Kist, dated 12 September 2001, regarding the US tragedies ING reconfirms that it does not have any property and casualty insurance and reinsurance activities in the United States and it therefore does not expect claims or any losses in this respect. Based on the current information the losses, caused by the 11 September attacks, in Individual and Group Life Insurance and in Life Reinsurance are estimated at around EUR 50 mln before tax.

Friday September 14 2001
ING Groep to acquire French subsidiary of Deutsche Bank AG
ING Groep is planning to acquire the French retail banking operations of Deutsche Bank, Germany's biggest bank, it emerged yesterday. A spokeswoman for the Dutch group announced that it was holding negotiations with the Frankfurt-based group and stressed that she was confident that the outcome would be successful.

Thursday September 13 2001
ING aims to acquire SCA
ING reported on Thursday it aims to acquire the remaining 13% of Mexican insurer Seguros Comercial America (SCA). In June, ING acquired 87% of SCA, Mexico's largest insurer. ING plans to make an open bid for the remaining SCA shares through Mexico's stock exchange, pending the approval of Mexico's watchdog, the National Banking & Securities commission.

Wednesday September 12 2001
Statement ING's CEO Ewald Kist on us tragedies
The recent tragedies in the United States have deeply saddened us all at ING. We would like to express our deepest sympathies to all of the victims' families concerned and especially to those persons within ING and within the financial industry that may have relatives and friends among the victims. The horrifying events, right in the heart of the United States, makes us once more aware there are far more important things to life than ING.

Thursday August 30 2001
ING Group to issue subordinated loan in Dutch Market
ING Group N.V. will issue a perpetual subordinated loan under the name 'ING Perpetuals'. The securities have a fixed coupon, which will be set at the closing of the subscription period. Under the present market conditions the interest rate would be between 6.25% and 6.5%. The proceeds from the loan will be used to fund the organic growth of ING's banking activities. The loan will be marketed to Dutch private investors in EUR 100,- denominations and will be listed on Euronext Amsterdam.

Thursday August 23 2001
ING Group first six months 2001
ING Group:In the first six months of 2001, operational net profit from insurance operations rose by a handsome 28.4% to EUR 1,463 mln. Last year's US acquisitions contributed EUR 134 mln (EUR 0.07 per share). The banking operations showed a profit increase for the first half of the year of 0.9% to EUR 940 mln.

ING Americas issues first-half update worksite segment delivers solid results
Approximately six months after Atlanta-based ING Americas began integrating ReliaStar Financial, AetnaFinancial and its existing ING operations into one financial services powerhouse serving the affluent-middle-income market segment,the projected promise and potential of ING's US operation are beginning to materialize.

Monday August 20 2001
ING Barings Japan is reprimanded on research
ING Barings Japan, the investment bank, has been reprimanded by the Financial Services Agency (FSA), the country's chief banking regulator, for issuing inaccurate and misleading research, and has also been ordered to tighten internal compliance procedures. Officials at the Dutch bank are understood to be upset at the severity of the FSA's decision, which has revived debate in Japan over whether the watchdog is being too heavy-handed in its regulation of foreign investment banks.

Friday August 17 2001
ING enters life insurance market via joint venture with Vysya Bank
ING Vysya Life Insurance, a joint venture between ING Insurance, Vysya Bank and GMR Technologies & Industries, has been granted an operational licence by the Insurance Regulation and Development Authority (IRDA) in India. The operational licence marks ING's actual entrance into the Indian life insurance market.

Thursday August 16 2001
ING Barings advocates merger between STMicroelectronics and Philips
Franco-Italian semiconductor manufacturer STMicroelectronics saw its shares gain up to 2.06% in Paris yesterday, before closing on a loss of 2.80% as technology stocks lost ground following a poor performance by NASDAQ. The group's shares initially benefited from the publication of a study by ING Barings advocating a merger of the Franco-Italian group with the semiconductors division of Dutch electronics group Philips Electronics.

Wednesday July 11 2001
ING Group repositions real estate financing activities
ING intends to combine the corporate real estate financing activities of Westland/Utrecht, ING Real Estate and ING Bank Nederland. By bundling the expertise within ING Real Estate, a strong combination will emerge with a top position in the Dutch real estate financing market and excellent opportunities for further expansion in the European real estate market.

Monday July 2 2001
ING completes streamlining its Polish banking operations
On 28 June 2001, the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders of Bank Slaski approved the merger between ING Bank Warsaw branch and Bank Slaski. The new combination will operate under the legal name ING Bank Slaski S.A. Jan Nijssen, Chairman Management Committee Central Europe: "This is an important step towards serving Polish wholesale and retail clients with ING's diversified financial services".

Friday June 22 2001
Stock split & introduction of ING global depositary receipts 02/07/01
On April 17th 2001, the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders adopted the proposal to split the (depositary receipts for) ING Group ordinary shares in a 2:1 ratio. The stock split will become effective on 2 July 2001. After the split, the nominal value of the (depositary receipts for) ING Group ordinary shares will amount to EUR 0.24 (current nominal value EUR 0.48).

ING Group closes its acquisition of Seguros Comercial America (Mexico)
ING Group on Friday announced the closing of its acquisition of controlling interest of Seguros Comercial America (SCA). As a result of the acquisition, ING is the largest private insurer in Mexico and the largest international insurer in Latin America. ING announced on June 4, 2001 that it had signed an agreement with Savia S.A.

Friday June 15 2001
ING Group forms new institutional investment firm in US
ING Group announced on Friday the formation of ING Aeltus Gruop, a new institutional investment management firm that combines two existing ING entities: Aeltus Investment Management and ING Furman Selz Asset Management. The new organisation will manage in excess of USD 60 bn in assets. providing a broad array of traditional and alternative investment products targeted at US institutional and high-net-worth investors.

Friday June 8 2001
ING Group sells 14.7 million shares in Fortis
ING Group announced on Friday that it completed the sale of 14.7 million shares of Fortis (NL) on 7 June 2001. The sale generated gross proceeds of about EUR 400 mln. The purpose of the transaction was to finance the recent acquisition of majority ownership in Seguros Comercial America (SCA), Mexico's largest insurance company.

Friday June 1 2001
ING Car Lease closes contract with Regus
Belgian customers of Dutch car leasing group ING Car Lease will receive a 50% discount on one-day office leasing from office rental company Regus. ING wants to give its 13,000 clients the opportunity to start working in a Regus office nearby when there are traffic jams. Regus Belgium is a subsidiary of UK group Regus, which is one of the largest providers of fully equipped business parks with activities in 50 countries.

Friday May 25 2001
ING Americas on track to create integrated US financial servic4es organization
ING Americas, an Atlanta-based integrated financial services organization, on Friday announced that it has achieved early wins in creating an organization focused on building a leadership position in managing, growing and protecting the assets of middle-income and emerging affluent consumers in the US ING Americas is part of Amsterdam-based ING Group, one of the largest integrated financial services organizations in the world.

Tuesday May 22 2001
Net profit ING Q1 2001 EUR 1.131 mln
"Thanks to our broad mix of products, we are able to continue our growth under adverse market conditions. The 11% increase in profit has to be seen in the context of the worldwide slide of equity prices and slowdown in economic growth", said Ewald Kist, chairman of the Executive Board. "We have initiated many integration and synergy projects to further strengthen ING.

Monday March 19 2001
ING not to raise Slaski bid
ING Group said on Monday it will not raise its 265 zlotys (USD 63.82) per share bid for the 45% stake in Poland's Bank Slaski it does not already own. "We have made a thorough survey and we think it is a fair price, so we don't intend to raise our bid", an ING spokesperson said. Earlier this month, ING said it planned to buy the remaining shares in Slaski but shareholders said the 265 zlotys per share bid was too low.

Friday March 9 2001
ING Direct develops its French activities
ING Direct France, the French division of the direct banking service of Dutch bank ING, will celebrate it first birthday on 21 March. With 75,000 customers and FFr1.4bn (213m euros) worth of deposits, ING Direct believes that it has done well in a country reputed to be "difficult". Even though it is now has a EUR 36 mln (FFr236.14m) deficit, the Dutch bank believes that it must lose money in order to gain more in the long run, as it is participating "in a marathon, not a sprint".

Thursday March 8 2001
ING makes a bid for outstanding shares of Bank Slaki in Poland
The Polish Banking Supervisor has approved that ING increases its shareholding in Bank Slaski (BSK). Following this approval, ING has made a tender offer to acquire the outstanding 45.02% of shares (4,168,888 shares) in Bank Slaski. Currently, ING holds 54.98% of the BSK shares (5,091,112 shares). ING offers a price of PLN 265 (EUR 72.05) per share, representing a premium of 16.2% of the closing share price on Wednesday 7 March 2001 ( PLN 228 = EUR 61.99)) and a 18.6% premium to the six-month average of the BSK share price (PLN 223.5 = EUR 60.77).

Monday March 5 2001
ING Group celebrates tenth anniversary
Seven major Taiwan-based member companies of the Dutch-headquartered ING Group yesterday celebrated the 10th anniversary of their parent group, which is now an active financial service provider in over 65 countries. Focused on integrated financial services, the ING group was formed in 1991 when a Dutch bank, National-Nederlanden, merged with NMB Postbank Group.

Friday March 2 2001
Share split for ING and Heineken
Both Dutch bank ING Groep and Dutch brewery Heineken have announced at the presentation of annual figures that they want to split shares. The Heineken board will propose to the general meeting of shareholders on April 26 to split four existing shares with a nominal value of EUR 2.50 each into five new shares with a nominal value of EUR 2.00 each.

Thursday March 1 2001
ING to increase internet spending in 2001-2003 to EUR 2.3 bn
ING Group will increase its internet spending to EUR 2.3 bn in 2001-2003 from 2 bln in 2000-2002, said ING chief executive Ewald Kist at a news conference following the release of full-year figures. ING will raise the amount of spending on venture capital, such as the company's internet provider Freeler, to EUR 700 mln in 2001-2003 from 400 mln in 2000-2002, Kist said.

Monday February 26 2001
ING Insurance Argentina's turnover rises 70%
ING Insurance Argentina, the Argentinian subsidiary of the Dutch insurance group, recorded a turnover of USD 50 mlnin 2000, up 71% on 1999. Turnover of USD 95 mln-USD 100 mln is forecast for 2001 and the company, which began operating in Argentina in 1997, expects to break even in 2002. According to Guillermo Andres Wickbold, head of marketing, the company will invest USD 45 mln in 2001, USD 25 mln of which will be invested in a new building in Puerto Madero.

Wednesday February 21 2001
Financial watchdog allows ING to invest in Taiwan
The financial watchdog in Taiwan has agreed to the planned acquisition by Dutch financial group ING of USD 300 mln worth of Taiwanese shares. ING is interested in shares in the technology sector of the island, such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing and United Microelectronics. ING does not have an office in Taiwan and will use the services of Citicorp for the transaction.

Tuesday February 6 2001
ING Bank achieves status of 'qualified intermediary' in the US
The US tax authorities (Internal Revenue Service) have granted ING Bank the status of 'qualified intermediary'. This official acknowledgement enables the custodian services of ING Bank to make the administrative completion substantially more efficient with regard to American securities. ING Bank and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) have closed an agreement, as a result of which the bank will be charged with supervising the use of the appropriate withholding tax percentages.

Thursday February 1 2001
ING leaves investment banking to ABN
ABN Amro is buying the New York investment bank of its Dutch competitor ING. The transaction says much about the strategy of the two banks. ING is cutting back, while ABN Amro wants to expand. ING has put a stop to its ambitions in the investment banking sector, which was initiated by former chairmen Mr Jacobs and Mr Van der Lugt.

Wednesday January 31 2001
ING ends push to become global player: Sells US unit
ING cut its losses in global investment banking yesterday, selling key parts of its US domestic arm to rival ABN AMRO. For ABN AMRO, the USD 275- mlnillion deal is a small step up the corporate and investment banking ladder, where ING has been on the back foot, although the Netherlands' biggest bank is still a long way off reaching the elusive "bulge bracket" league.

Tuesday January 30 2001
ING build one wholesale and financial markets organisations
ING Group on Tuesday announces that it intends to integrate ING Barings into ING Europe. The corporate and investment banking activities of ING Barings, ING Bank, BBL, BHF-Bank and their subsidiaries will be aligned along two lines of business: Wholesale and Financial Markets, led by the Executive Committee of ING Europe.

Monday January 29 2001
Barings braced for City job cuts
Staff at ING Barings, the investment bank, are braced for hundreds of City job losses this week. ING, the firm's Dutch parent, is expected to confirm on Monday that ABN-Amro is buying its US broking and advisory business for USD 300 mln. ING said in November it had put its US investment banking operations up for sale and was putting the European business up for review.

ING to cut 1,100 City jobs
ING Group is reportedly set to cut 1,100 jobs from its non-US investment banking operations. Most of the job cuts by ING, one of the world's largest financial services companies, are expected to fall in the City of London, the Financial Times reported Monday. As many as 2,500 jobs will be cut at the ING Barings division, but 1,400 employees are expected to be picked up by its top Dutch rival ABN Amro, which which was negotiating Sunday night to buy parts of the US investment banking operations at ING, the FT reported.

Friday January 26 2001
CW Lease changes name in ING Car Lease
CW Lease, a subsidiary of ING Lease, will change its name into ING Car Lease. During the first quarter of 2001, all of the company's communications will adopt the new name and logo. With operations in various European countries, ING Car Lease wants to position itself more prominently as an ING company in order to profit from the recognition and strength of the ING brand name.

Thursday January 25 2001
ING Group intends to sell Westland/Utrecht
ING Group announces on Thursday its intention to sell Westland/Utrecht. ING Group believes that Westland/Utrecht - by selling to a buyer outside the ING Group - will be better able to use its growth potential. As a result of Westland/Utrecht's highly independent position within the ING Group the external divestment of Westland/Utrecht will provide it with wider freedom with regard to product development, alliances and growth opportunities than would be possible by way of integration with ING Group's other business units.

Wednesday January 24 2001
ING real Estate acquired Australia-based Amstrong Jones Retail Fund
ING Real Estate acquired Armstrong Jones Retail Fund, a listed fund in Australia. The fund was listed under the code AJR on the Australian Stock Exchange. ING acquired the fund for AUSD 388 mln. The transaction was concluded with the approval of the Australian authorities and the shareholders. The fund has now become a private fund and is no longer listed on the Australian stock exchange.

Thursday January 18 2001
ING Group finalises sale Tiel Utrecht
ING Group announces that the sale of Tiel Utrecht to De Goudse was finalised. Tiel Utrecht offers life, investment-linked and non-life insurance products. Tiel Utrecht, and its subsidiary Algemene Zeeuwse Verzekering Maatschappij in Middelburg, province of Zeeland, employs 629 number of staff. Its 1999 turnover amounts to NLG 785 mln, premium income amounts to NLG 617 mln and the 1999 group result is NLG 64 mln.

Thursday January 11 2001
ING Barings is still top broker in 2000
Wariness of foreign investors to do business in the Philippines considering this year's kidnap-pings, bombings and political scandals notwithstanding, foreign brokerages still emerged as the dominant players in the stock market for the year 2000. Dutch bank affiliate ING Baring Securities (Philippines),.

Monday January 8 2001
ING is selling Williams de Broe
ING Groep is close to selling British brokerage Williams de Broe to Belgium's Artesia Banking Corp for 60-100 million pounds (USD 90-USD 150 mln), the Financial Times reported on Monday. The newspaper, quoting insiders, said a deal for ING's majority-owned British subsidiary could be announced before the end of the month.

Friday December 22 2000
ING Group to abolish optional stock dividend
ING Group announced its decision to pay out the final dividend 2000 in cash only, thereby abolishing the optional stock dividend. This decision is based on two reasons. Firstly, it will prevent dilution. Secondly, the tax benefit for private shareholders in the Netherlands resulting from the stock dividend choice will no longer apply as a result of the 2001 Income Tax Act that will become effective from 1 January 2001.

Thursday December 14 2000
ING Group closes acquisition of Aetna Financial Services and Aetna International
ING Group on Thursday announced the closing of the acquisition of Aetna Financial Services and Aetna International, which encompass Aetna.'s international operations and all domestic defined contribution plan businesses, annuities and mutual funds, financial and investment products, and investment advisory services.

ING Americas announces integrated management & organizatorial structure
ING Americas, part of Amsterdam-based ING Group, announced on Thursday a new management and organizational structure. This reflects the integration of ING Americas, ReliaStar, Aetna Financial Services and Aetna International, and has enabled the organization to create new business lines and distribution channels and to fund key priorities to build market share and enhance customer loyalty.

Wednesday December 13 2000
Aetna completes sale to ING
Aetna on Wednesday announced that it has completed the sale of its financial services and international businesses to ING Groep N.V. for approximately USD 7.7 bn, and completed the simultaneous spinoff of its health care business to shareholders. Under terms of the transaction, ING will pay approximately USD 5 bn in cash directly to Aetna shareholders and assume approximately USD 2.7 bn of Aetna's debt.

Thursday December 7 2000
ING says Goldman looks to options
ING repeated on Thursday that investment bank Goldman Sachs was only looking at options for the future of the US operations of ING Barings, ING's corporate and investment bank. A Dutch newspaper had earlier reported that Goldman's mandate had been extended in recent days to cover investment banking in its entirety.

Tuesday December 5 2000
ING sells its non-life insurance operation in Singapore to QBE
ING has signed an agreement with QBE Insurance (Australia) to sell its non-life insurance company in Singapore (ING Insurance Singapore). The agreement provides for QBE to acquire the non-life business in Singapore and offer employment to all the company's employees. The transaction, which is subject to regulatory approval in Singapore, is expected to close on January 2001.

Monday December 4 2000
Transitional leadership appointed for ING Corporate & Investment Banking
Following the announcement made on 19 November 2000, ING on Monday announces the appointment of a transitional leadership for its investment banking activities Davis Robins, member of the ING Group Executive Board, chairman and chief executive officer of ING Barings, and Malcolm Le May, deputy chief executive and global head of Corporate & Institutional Finance in ING Barings, have resigned with effect from on Monday.

Vopak Distribution UK Limited recommended cash offer for Ellis & Everard
Level of acceptances and extension of Offer Vopak Distribution Holdings UK Limited ("Vopak Distribution Holdings UK") announces that as at 3.00 pm on 1 December 2000, Vopak Distribution Holdings UK has received valid acceptances of the Offer in respect of 53,901,926 Ellis & Everard plc ("Ellis & Everard") Shares in aggregate, representing approximately 53.9%.

Tuesday November 28 2000
ING Insurance has signed an agreement with Vysya Bank and Damani Group
ING Insurance, Vysya Bank and Damani Group have signed an agreement to set up a life insurance company in India. This will be followed by the formation of an Indian joint venture after obtaining a trading licence from the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) in India. ING Insurance will hold a 26% stake in the proposed venture in accordance with the norms specified by the IRDA.

Wednesday November 22 2000
ING intends to sell Tiel Utrecht to the Goudse
ING announces that the expectation is justified that it will reach agreement with de Goudse on the acquisition of Tiel Utrecht. ING intends to transfer its 100% interest in Tiel Utrecht to de Goudse. De Goudse intends to appoint Mr. Herman Touw, at present chairman of Tiel Utrecht, vice-chairman of the new combination.

Tuesday November 21 2000
Baring Asset Management not affected by ING review
ING Group wishes to clarify that Baring Asset Management remains unaffected by the review of ING's investment banking activities. Baring Asset Management is an autonomous Asset Management and Financial Services business and will continue to operate under the Baring brand. Commenting on the review, Alexander Rinnooy Kan, Chairman of ING Asset Management, said: "Baring Asset Management has the full support of ING and does not fall within the scope of ING's investment banking review.

ING sell-off attracts interest
At least seven banks are understood to have expressed an interest in all or part of the US investment banking operations of ING Barings after they were put up for sale this weekend by ING Group. They are believed to include four European banks - HSBC Holdings of the UK, ABN Amro of the Netherlands, and Deutsche Bank and Dresdner Bank of Germany.

Monday November 20 2000
Results of first nine months 2000 for ING Group
Headlines: 27% increase in operational net profit per share. Strong profit growth of all core businesses. Good performance of Western European banking operations. ING reconfirms its profit expectation for the full year: an increase in operational net profit per share including ReliaStar of at least 20%.

ING reviews future scope of its investment banking business
After almost ten years of rapid growth during which several large acquisitions were realised, ING Group has reached a new phase in its development. In this new phase, the emphasis will be on maximising synergies and optimising the existing operations to meet ING's increased financial targets. In view of this, ING is reviewing the future positioning of its investment banking activities.

Friday November 17 2000
ING mulls US investment banking sale
ING Group, the Dutch financial services group, is exploring a sale of its US investment banking business in a move that would mark the end to any claim it had to building a global full-service investment bank. The group, whose investment bank is called ING Barings, plans to retain its more profitable European and Asian investment banking operations as separate regional businesses.

Tuesday November 14 2000
ING and PayPal to bring e-mail-based payments to Europe
In a move to expand international use of what has become an extremely successful payment application in the United States, PayPal, the pioneer and leading provider of Internet-based payments, and ING Group, one of the largest financial services companies in the world, announced a major strategic partnership on Tuesday to expand e-mail payments in Europe.

Tuesday October 31 2000
Additional statement concerning ING acquiring Afore Bital
The operating result for the third quarter amounted to EUR 182 mln, up EUR 34 mln (23%) on Q3 1999. This was the net effect of higher sales volumes in all clusters, on average slightly lower margins (selling prices less variable costs) and lower fixed costs resulting from the Operational Excellence programme.

Monday October 30 2000
ING has acquired Afore Bital
ING has acquired Afore Bital, one of Mexico's largest private pension funds. ING already owned 49% in this pension fund and has now acquired an additional 49% from Grupo Financiero Bital, for which ING has paid USD 196 mln. Bital is required to retain the remaining 2% for a certain period of time after closing.

Tuesday October 24 2000
ING pushes brandname worldwide
In the six months since Ewald Kist became chairman of ING, the Dutch financial group has made a USD 7.7 bn US insurance acquisition, released value by selling stakes in domestic rivals, and set itself tougher financial targets. Next, he says, will come the roll-out of its internet-based direct banking service to more countries, and the strengthening of the ING brand worldwide.

Tuesday October 17 2000
ING Group sells 20 mln shares in Fortis
ING Group announced on Tuesday that it has sold to Fortis a total of 20,000,000 ordinary shares in Fortis (NL) at a price of EUR 32,94 per share in cash, generating gross proceeds of approximately EUR 659 mln. With the proceeds of this transaction, ING has now completed the funding of the acquisition of Aetna Financial Services and Aetna International, which is expected to close in December 2000.

ING: changes in nominal value of depositary receipts
In the announcement made on 17 October 2000 it was stated that the stock exchange of Euronext Amsterdam N.V. has been requested to determine that depositary receipts for ordinary shares of ING Groep N.V. will be listed on the Official Market of the stock exchange of Euronext Amsterdam N.V.with a nominal value of EUR 0.48 per depositary receipt and depositary receipts for preference shares with a nominal value of EUR 1.20 per depositary receipt as of 17 October 2000.

Tuesday September 19 2000
Aetna to sell stake in Mexico ventures
Aetna International, a unit of US health insurer Aetna, said on Tuesday it is selling its stakes in three Mexican banking and insurance joint ventures to its partner Grupo Financiero BBVA Bancomer for USD 693 mln as it prepares for the sale of Aetna's financial services and international businesses to ING Groep.

Wednesday September 13 2000
ING says no further sales
ING on Wednesday confirmed it would not sell other stakes in Dutch-listed companies to fund the purchase of the non-health operations of Aetna, the US company it bought for USD 7.7 bn, including USD 2.7 bn in debt, in July. Instead it will fund the bulk of the remaining Aetna price - estimated at USD 1.5 bn - from selling ING real estate interests, using loan stock or other financial means, it said.

Monday September 11 2000
ING adviser suspected of fraud
An investment adviser at the ING bank in Enschede is suspected of fraud involving NLG 3.2 mln. The public prosecutor in the district court of Zutphen is investigating the case, which involves a 30-year-old man who allegedly transferred funds from rich clients to make up for speculative losses made by his family and friends.

Friday September 1 2000
ING closes ReliaStar acquisition
ING Groep said it had closed its takeover of US insurer ReliaStar Financial ReliaStar shareholders, who approved the acquisition on July 27, will now receive forms to claim their USD 54 per share in cash, ING said in a statement late on Friday. The acquisition, for USD 5.1 bn plus USD 1.0 bn in existing ReliaStar debt, was first announced in May and received all regulatory approvals by August 30.

Thursday August 31 2000
ING Barings in fine fettle
ING, the Dutch bancassurance group, on Thursday revealed for the first time the full state of ING Barings, the investment bank it bought for a pound from the Bank of England five years ago. ING Barings is in good shape. Half-year operating profits rose 89% to E293m (USD 261 mln), and the investment bank has reduced its historic dependence on emerging markets.

Friday August 25 2000
ING seeks merger for Freeler ISP
ING Group is seeking a merger for its Freeler internet provider or another form of cooperation to assure the unit's future, an ING spokeswoman said on Friday. The spokeswoman said the company is "satisfied" with the number of Freeler subscribers, "but that a merger or other form of cooperation is needed to help achieve sufficient critical mass for Freeler to survive in the long term."

ING Canada buys Equisure Financial Network
ING Group said ING Canada, in partnership with insurance brokers, is to acquire Equisure Financial Network, one of the largest publicly traded insurance and financial service brokerage networks in Canada, for 136 mln cad, excluding the shares ING Canada already owns. ING Canada and its brokerage partners will offer to purchase all of the outstanding common shares at 7 cad per share in cash through a public offer in September.

Thursday August 24 2000
ING moves goalposts after raising forecasts
ING, the Dutch financial group, raised its full-year earnings forecast and set tougher financial goals after achieving a 28% rise in first-half net profits to E1.14bn ($1.02bn). The banking and insurance combine aims to get more value out of collaboration between its various units worldwide, by sharing costs and cross-selling more among their customers.

ING says share issue for Aetna buy 'not likely'
ING Group chief financial officer Cees Maas said ING will probably not issue shares to help finance its acquisition of Aetna, which ING plans to complete in December. ING chief executive Ewald Kist noted that "no big acquisitions are planned for the near future", adding that the company's war chest currently contains about "a billion or two (eur)." The CEO noted that he would "love" to raise the company's stake in Germany's DiBa (Direct Bank) to 51% from 49% to be able to add the ING name and logo to the product, but added that "it takes two to tango" and that "all parties must first agree."

Wednesday August 16 2000
ING bigger in asset management
ING Group said worldwide assets under management at June 30 equalled EUR 359.8 bn, up 24.9% from 288.1 bln a year earlier and compared with 345.3 bln at end-1999. ING said the increase was due to organic growth in the first six months of the year. Assets managed for third parties rose by 7%, the group said, adding that the third party share in total assets under management rose to 70% from 69% and stood at EUR 254 bn.

ING complets sale of Hungarian retail ops
The sale of ING Bank's Hungarian consumer business, SME business and branch network to Citigroup unit Citibank Rt is expected to be completed by the end of October, an ING Group spokeswoman said. She noted that the Hungarian competition authorities yesterday approved the sale which the two companies agreed on in April.

Monday August 14 2000
ING's Polish unit to report 20% H1 net
ING Group NV's Polish unit Bank Slaski will reportedly post a 20% drop in first-half net profit to NLG 45.3 mln, Dutch daily financial Het Financieele Dagblad reported, citing figures leaked to Polish daily Rzeczpospolita. A Bank Slaski spokeswoman said the results are "not very good", the paper said, noting that other Polish banks are expected to report an average rise in net profit of 16%.

Tuesday August 8 2000
ING raises financial targets
ING Groep will raise its long-term financial targets at the publication of its first-half results on Aug 24, ING said on Tuesday. The company did not comment on which specific targets would be raised, nor on by how much, saying only that "internal talks on those specifics are about to be concluded." INGe said that the majority of ING's international management had indicated at its annual international conference that there was room to adjust targets upwards and that ING chief executive officer Ewald Kist was of the same opinion.

Friday August 4 2000
Aetna Q2 profit falls 17%
Aetna, the US's biggest health insurer, on Friday reported a 17% fall in the second quarter of this year, reflecting higher medical costs, and more hospital visits by the people it insures. Aetna, which last month sold its financial services and international operations to ING Group, reported operating profit in the second quarter of this year, excluding exceptional items, of USD 134 mln, or 94 cents per share, compared with USD 160.9 mln, or USD 1.03 per share, in the year earlier period.

ING Direct ready to launch US online banking
Consumers in the United States are about to be hit with an orange-drenched advertising blitz aimed at getting them to do what skeptics say they simply don't want to -- put their savings in a foreign-owned bank that doesn't have branches or even automated tellers. After successfully grabbing market share away from established banks in Canada, ING Direct is embarking on the more difficult task of cracking the US consumer banking market.

Thursday August 3 2000
ING not to tender Baan shares to Invensys
ING Group will not tender its 5.9% stake in Baan Co to Invensys PLC, Dutch daily Telegraaf reported, citing an ING spokeswoman. ING decided to not tender its shares as the continuity of Baan no longer depends on ING, the spokeswoman said. She declined to comment on whether not tendering the stake will reduce ING's loss on its Baan investment to about NLG 250 mln.

Monday July 31 2000
ING to buy Charterhouse
ING is to acquire Charterhouse Securities for GBP 127 mln (USD 191 mln). ING saw off competition from KBC Bancassurance, the Belgian banking and insurance group, and BNP Paribas, the French bank, and said the purchase would bolster its UK corporate broking business. "This fills that gap very comfortably", said Malcolm Le May, deputy chief executive of ING Barings.

Friday July 21 2000
ING to launch internet bank in US
ING is to launch an internet bank in the US, backed by a chain of coffee shops to give it a physical presence. ING Direct will open for business in the late summer in the Philadelphia area with a call centre and two coffee shops, backed by a high profile marketing campaign to establish the brand. ING is one of the largest insurers in the US, after this week's purchase of the financial services and international operations of Aetna was added to its earlier acquisition of Reliastar, the Minneapolis-based life insurer.

Thursday July 20 2000
ING buys Aetna division
Aetna is selling its financial services and international businesses to Dutch insurance and banking giant ING Group for USD 5 bn, allowing the nation's largest health insurer to focus on its ailing health care business. The deal also vaults ING to a leadership position in American, Latin American and Asian-Pacific insurance and financial services markets.

Tuesday July 18 2000
Aetna issues profit warning
Aetna warned Tuesday that second-quarter earnings may be well below Wall Street expectations due to rising medical costs at its health maintenance organizations. The company's stock tumbled 10% after sliding 6% on Monday amid reports that Aetna was nearing a deal to sell its financial services and international businesses to ING Group of the Netherlands.

Monday July 17 2000
ING refuses to sell Baan stake
ING is refusing to tender its 5.9% stake in troubled software company Baan to the takeover offer from Britain's Invensys, the Financial Times reported on Monday. The newspaper said ING would gain more from a liquidation of Baan than accepting the bid and was believed to have made its postion clear to industrial automation and controls group Invesys, which last week extended its EUR 2.85-per-share offer for Baan after failing to secure complete control.

Invensys may sideline ING
Invensys may waive a clause requiring at least 95% of Baan shareholders to accept its takeover of the troubled software company, in order to wrap the deal, according to media reports on Monday. Invensys would be seriously considering the idea of waiving the clause following reports that ING was refusing to tender its 5.9% stake, the reports said.

Thursday July 13 2000
ING, Aetna silent on bid reports
Aetna, the No. 1 US health insurer, on Thursday declined to comment on a report that ING Groep has resurfaced as the leading bidder to acquire Aetna's financial-services and international units. ING, which has been talking to Aetna about a possible acquisition since February, also declined to comment on the Wall Street Journal's report on Thursday that ING might soon buy the businesses for up to USD 7.75 bn.

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