ING sells investment unit to BPI

MANILA, Philippines - Dutch financial giant ING Group has agreed to sell its investment management business in the Philippines to the Ayala-led Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) as part of a previously announced back-to-basics program intended to restructure and streamline its activities.

ING did not disclose how much it generated from the divestment of its investment management business to BPI, currently the country’s largest bank in terms of market capitalization and second largest in asset management and trust with total assets under management of P458 billion as of end-September this year.

ING earlier said it would separate its banking and insurance/investment management businesses by the end of 2010 and divest the latter before the end of 2013.

This was part of an agreement with the European Commission in October 2009.

In the Philippines, trust and investment management businesses must operate under a trust license. ING’s Investment management activities are currently conducted through the Trust Department of ING Bank Manila, which holds a trust license.

ING’s investment management business in the Philippines has P78.4 billion in assets under management as of Sept. 30, 2010.

ING said it would continue to be active in the Philippines through ING Bank, a commercial bank on its 20th year of operations in the Philippines.

ING Bank, which was recently awarded by Euromoney as the Best Investment Bank for 2010, will continue to focus on its strong franchise in financial markets, lending and syndications, structured finance and corporatefinance.

ING Investment Management continues to have a strong footprint in Asia, with presence in 10 countries, including the major economies of China, Korea and Taiwan.

As of end-September 2010, ING served more than 85 million private, corporate and institutional clients in more than 40 countries, with a diverse workforce of about 107,000 people.