Dutch offer billions for ING rescue

AMSTERDAM - The Dutch government yesterday said it will inject $13.4 billion into ING Groep NV to shore up the bank and insurance company amid rumors it's running out of capital.

Finance Minister Wouter Bos said the deal is needed given the recent extreme volatility of global financial markets, though ING is "a healthy financial institution."

The Dutch government will name two members to ING's supervisory board. Bos said that one condition of the deal is that ING's chief executive, Michel Tilmant, and other managers will receive no more than a year's pay if they are dismissed.

Amsterdam-based ING said it will cancel dividends for the rest of the year.

ING said it would post a quarterly loss - its first in 50 years - because of $2.68 billion in investment losses, asset write-downs, and extra provisions for bad loans.

ING was among the top 20 financial services companies globally in terms of market capitalization in March, but its stock has lost nearly three-quarters of its value since then. ING was worth just $20.4 billion at Friday's closing price.