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ING agreed to a fixed repayment schedule, and revamped its proposals to ensure that a new competitive force emerges in the Dutch retail market. At the same time, the prolongation of certain deadlines for the divestment of assets is compensated by longer behavioural constraints on the bank. This new plan addresses the Commission's concerns.
Commission Vice President in charge of competition policy Joaquín Almunia said: "Our agreement with the Dutch authorities preserves the balance of the original plan. The issues created by all the state aid received by ING are adequately addressed by the amended plan. In the next three years, ING will repay to the Dutch state all the state support it received, including a premium. Incentives have also been put in place to ensure ING succeeds in creating a new competitive force, NN Bank, in the Dutch retail market."
In the beginning of 2012, The Netherlands notified several amendments to the restructuring plan approved in 2009, because ING had difficulties in implementing the plan. In particular, ING had failed to pay remuneration for the state support and could not divest Westland Utrecht Bank ("WUB") as foreseen in 2009. In May 2012, the Commission opened an in-depth investigation into the notified amendments.
In its amended restructuring plan, ING committed to repay the outstanding state capital to the Dutch State by 2015. The Commission agreed to prolong the deadline for divesting ING's insurance business in Europe because of the current difficult market situation and the specificities of ING's business. The modalities of the divestment of ING Insurance US have also been modified. To compensate for these changes, the acquisition ban and the price leadership ban will be prolonged. The creation of NN Bank, through the divestment of ING's mortgage bank WUB together with its Dutch insurance business by 2015, will ensure competition is enhanced in the concentrated Dutch retail market.
To address the reasons of ING's failure to divest WUB within the initial schedule, ING also committed to a series of behavioural constraints aiming to ensure the commercial success of NN Bank. The price leadership ban in The Netherlands is not prolonged as it is made redundant by these new constraints. By contrast, the price leadership ban of ING Direct Europe is both prolonged and strengthened.