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ING signs Memorandum of Understanding with Astron


WEBWIRE –

18 May 2006

Today ING announced that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with document outsourcing company Astron. The intended outsourcing agreement covers the processing of banking and insurance documents in the Netherlands and Belgium, like printing, scanning and mail dispatch. The number of FTE’s that will be affected amounts to approximately 700 in the Netherlands and 100 in Belgium. ING expects that all employees will be employed by Astron.

The final contract with Astron is expected to be signed in the third quarter of 2006. The expected value of the contract is EUR 400 million based on a seven-year period.

The intended agreement represents the second large outsourcing agreement as part of ING’s efficiency programme for the Operations & IT organisation in the Benelux, announced on 2 November 2005. ING then announced that it expected a total of about 2,200 FTE’s to be transferred to outsourcing partners. ING expects total annual cost savings of approximately EUR 230 million and non-recurring costs of about EUR 180 million as a result of the entire efficiency programme (outsourcing, streamlining and downsizing of external staff). The goal of the programme is to improve efficiency and to lift ING’s operations to a higher level of operational excellence.

The labour conditions in the MoU for Dutch employees are in line with the Social Framework Sourcing that was agreed with the Dutch labour unions. In Belgium ING is currently in negotiations with the labour unions on a collective labour agreement in which the social consequences of sourcing are laid down for the Belgian employees. The transaction is pending advice from the Works Councils and negotiations with the labour unions on employment conditions.

ING is a global financial institution of Dutch origin offering banking, insurance and asset management to over 60 million private, corporate and institutional clients in over 50 countries. With a diverse workforce of about 114.000 people, ING comprises a broad spectrum of prominent companies that increasingly serve their clients under the ING brand.

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