Enterprise Risk Management at ING Group

Amsterdam based ING offered life, health, and disability products; personal insurance lines (auto and fire coverage); commercial property/casualty insurance; and reinsurance. ING's banking lines ranged from post office deposit accounts (the Postbanks) in the Netherlands to consumer and corporate banking throughout Europe.

Other business lines were corporate finance, securities, and investment and asset management services (through its ING banking network subsidiary) and auto, airplane, and other equipment leasing. ING employed about 115,000 employees and offered its services to 60 million clients in 60 countries.

ING had struggled with investment banking arm ING Barings, formed after the collapse of Barings. In a streamlining effort, ING had eliminated jobs and regrouped its ailing banking operations (including ING Barings and ING Bank) into one organization. ING sold its US investment banking services, including New York-based Furman Selz, to Dutch rival ABN AMRO. ING had taken a majority stake in India's Vysya Bank and set up new joint banking ventures in Australia and China. Following the collapse of Enron, ING lost about $200 million. The slumping US economy had prompted ING to lay off about 15% of its US staff (some 1,600 people). ING also cut costs domestically by reorganizing its Dutch operations into four divisions (retail, wholesale, intermediary, and operations/IT).