ING TAKES 100% OF SOUTH KOREAN SUBSIDIARY

DUTCH financial giant ING has paid Euro180m to acquire the outstanding stake in its ING Life Insurance operation. It bought the 14.9% stake from Kookmin Bank, part of the KB Financial Group, in a move which Ron van Oijen, the chief executive of ING Insurance Asia/Pacific, said underlined the Dutch firm’s commitment to the region. KB, which had bought a 20% stake in ING Life Korea in 1999, set up its KB Life Insurance operation four years ago. South Korean regulations prohibit companies from operating two life insurance businesses in the country prompting the move to sell the stake back to ING.