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Saturday, November 22, 2008

ING looks to pull shares from European exchanges

ING has announced its intentions to remove its shares from stock exchanges in Paris, Frankfurt and Switzerland.

The financial institution has made moves to delist from the bourses with the intention to concentrate its trading in New York, Amsterdam and Brussels.

In a press release, ING suggested that cutting costs is one of the main reasons behind the new strategy.

"Maintaining a listing brings costs with it," the company stated. "Concentrating trading on a limited number of exchanges aligns with ING's ongoing focus on cost efficiency."

ING had a low volume of shares trading on the Swiss, French and German exchanges, which also informed its position.

It claimed the amount had fallen in recent years and accounted for just 0.3 per cent of all ING trading during the 12 months up to November 1st.

Based in the Netherlands, ING has six specific business areas, according to its website - ING Direct, retail banking, wholesale banking, Insurance Americas, Insurance Europe and Insurance Asia/Pacific.

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