AMSTERDAM, Oct 18 (Reuters) - Dutch financial group ING is considering several options to shore up its capital position, including taking government money, to keep up with rivals which have raised the bar on solvency levels.
'If you look at our capital position it is completely on-target but if you look at the playing field, it's changing,' an ING spokesman told Reuters on Saturday.
'A lot of companies are now raising the bar.'
ING, the Netherlands' biggest listed bank, said on Friday it expected its first quarterly loss ever, hit by financial market turmoil and falling asset prices. That sent its shares to a 13-year low.
The spokesman said on Saturday the bank was considering several options to raise capital, including tapping a 20 billion euro ($27 billion) Dutch government programme to inject capital into healthy financial institutions.
'We are looking at it and we have various options. One of the options is the plan provided by the government and another option would be a non-governmental solution,' he said.
'We are not in a hurry, we are not in a rush to do it. We feel that we are still in a good position and we will do this in a disciplined way,' he added.
He declined to comment on a possible timeframe for a decision.
The Wall Street Journal reported that ING could tap the Dutch government or other sources of funds as soon as next week, citing people familiar with the matter.
Dutch daily Het Financieele Dagblad reported on Saturday that ING was in active consultations with the Dutch central bank, citing market sources. The central bank declined to comment.
ING has said it expects to post a net loss of about 500 million euros ($674 million) for the third quarter, its first quarterly loss since the group was formed in 1991.
ING Bank's core tier-1 ratio, a measure of financial strength, was at 6.5 percent and its tier-1 ratio was above target at 8.5 percent at the end of the third quarter [nHUGBSRZKa].
ING's results were initially more resilient during the credit crisis than many of its peers, such as Belgian-Dutch rival Fortis<FOR.AS>, which was broken up earlier this month, partly nationalised by the Dutch government and partly sold off to French rival BNP Paribas.
If ING were to make use of the Dutch government programme, it would follow similar steps taken this week by several British and Swiss banks, which also tapped emergency funding lifelines from their respective governments.
(Additional reporting by Gilbert Kreijger, editing by Swaha Pattanaik) ($1=.7424 Euro) Keywords: ING/ tf.TFN-Europe_newsdesk@thomson.com ak COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Financial News Limited 2008. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Thomson Financial News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Financial News.
'If you look at our capital position it is completely on-target but if you look at the playing field, it's changing,' an ING spokesman told Reuters on Saturday.
'A lot of companies are now raising the bar.'
ING, the Netherlands' biggest listed bank, said on Friday it expected its first quarterly loss ever, hit by financial market turmoil and falling asset prices. That sent its shares to a 13-year low.
The spokesman said on Saturday the bank was considering several options to raise capital, including tapping a 20 billion euro ($27 billion) Dutch government programme to inject capital into healthy financial institutions.
'We are looking at it and we have various options. One of the options is the plan provided by the government and another option would be a non-governmental solution,' he said.
'We are not in a hurry, we are not in a rush to do it. We feel that we are still in a good position and we will do this in a disciplined way,' he added.
He declined to comment on a possible timeframe for a decision.
The Wall Street Journal reported that ING could tap the Dutch government or other sources of funds as soon as next week, citing people familiar with the matter.
Dutch daily Het Financieele Dagblad reported on Saturday that ING was in active consultations with the Dutch central bank, citing market sources. The central bank declined to comment.
ING has said it expects to post a net loss of about 500 million euros ($674 million) for the third quarter, its first quarterly loss since the group was formed in 1991.
ING Bank's core tier-1 ratio, a measure of financial strength, was at 6.5 percent and its tier-1 ratio was above target at 8.5 percent at the end of the third quarter [nHUGBSRZKa].
ING's results were initially more resilient during the credit crisis than many of its peers, such as Belgian-Dutch rival Fortis<FOR.AS>, which was broken up earlier this month, partly nationalised by the Dutch government and partly sold off to French rival BNP Paribas.
If ING were to make use of the Dutch government programme, it would follow similar steps taken this week by several British and Swiss banks, which also tapped emergency funding lifelines from their respective governments.
(Additional reporting by Gilbert Kreijger, editing by Swaha Pattanaik) ($1=.7424 Euro) Keywords: ING/ tf.TFN-Europe_newsdesk@thomson.com ak COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Financial News Limited 2008. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Thomson Financial News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Financial News.