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Fallout: The Financial Crisis

Dutch government to rescue ING

Stephen Beard Oct 20, 2008
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Fallout: The Financial Crisis

Dutch government to rescue ING

Stephen Beard Oct 20, 2008
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TEXT OF STORY

Bill Radke: The Dutch government has announced its own bank rescue pumping $13 billion into the ING group. From the European desk in London, Stephen Beard has that.


Stephen Beard: The Dutch government is buying a $13 billion stake in ING, and will take a couple of seats on the bank’s supervisory board.

Analysts are astounded. ING seemed squeaky clean, unpolluted with toxic assets. But on Friday, the bank’s share price slumped by 27 percent. The bank then announced it had made its first ever quarterly loss.

This is worrying, says fund manager Ewan Stirling, because the trouble stems from the bank’s conventional investments, like shares, bonds and property:

Ewan Stirling: We’re now seeing the economic impact of falling asset prices, and you know, we’ve seen the stock market falling quite precipitously so far this year. And it’s the losses on traditional assets that seem to have hit ING.

The Dutch finance minister said ING is still healthy, but the bank needs the buffer of extra capital in these extraordinary times.

In London, this is Stephen Beard for Marketplace.

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