Bancherul - BANCI / ENGLISH / ING and trade unions finalise pension scheme for employees in the Netherlands

ING announced today that it has finalised its agreement on a new pension scheme for employees in the Netherlands, following acceptance of the new scheme by both the unions and their members, said the bank in a statement.

The new pension scheme will take effect on 1 January 2014 and will apply to the 19,000 staff members in the Netherlands of ING Bank and WestlandUtrecht Bank as well as to the 8,000 staff members in the Netherlands of Insurance/Investment Management (IM). Under the agreement, two new and separate pension funds will be created, one for Banking and one for Insurance/IM.

As announced on 1 June 2012, the key elements of the new scheme are:

· ING contributes a yearly pre-defined premium to the funds. The employee contribution to the new scheme will gradually increase to one-third of the base pension premium

· The minimum salary level at which pensions are provided will be lowered to EUR 15,000.

· Pension benefit will be based on average wage over period of employment with a 2% annual accrual rate.

· The Pension funds, not ING, will bear responsibility for funding adequacy; ING Bank and Insurance/IM to pay an additional risk premium.

· Responsibility for inflation indexation will move to the new funds.

· Standard retirement age will be raised to 67.

As of the start of the new Defined Contribution Plan on 1 January 2014, the current Defined Benefit Plan will stop accruing new pension benefits. Accruals built up under the Defined Benefit Plan up to that date will remain valid. The change to a new pension scheme will result in a release of provisions previously taken by ING to cover estimated future liabilities in the existing Defined Benefit Plan that are now no longer required. This release will amount to a one-off after-tax gain of approximately EUR 300 million, which will be reflected in the second quarter results, to be published on 8 August 2012.