ING announced today that, together with the Dutch State, it has completed the unwinding of the Illiquid Assets Back-Up Facility (IABF). The IABF was established in 2009, at the depth of the financial crisis, in order to reduce the risk and uncertainty for ING from a portfolio of US Alt-A mortgage securities. In November 2013 ING and the Dutch State reached an agreement on the unwinding of the facility.
The Dutch State has sold the remaining USD 11.5 billion of securities in the portfolio through three auctions for an average price of 77.3%. The proceeds were used to pay off the remaining loans from ING. Together with the settlement of fees, the unwinding resulted in a cash profit for the Dutch State of EUR 1.4 billion.
"It is good that we can announce another major step in concluding the government support for ING," said Ralph Hamers, CEO of ING Group. "I want to thank everyone involved for ensuring this arrangement served its purpose, while giving the State an ample return. We will continue to make ING stronger and simpler and further focus our company on serving our customers."
