S&P affirms ING companies

Standard & Poor's said it affirmed the long-term counterparty credit ratings on various operating insurance subsidiaries of ING Groep NV and the A-/A-2 counterparty credit ratings on ING Verzekeringen NV and removed ratings from CreditWatch with negative implications where they had been placed on Nov. 10, following ING's third-quarter 2010 results.

The outlook is negative.

The affirmation reflects expectation that ING will exercise its flexibility to manage the impact on capital adequacy and leverage resulting from risks relating to legacy variable annuity business, according to the agency.

"The ratings on INGV and the consolidated insurance operations - collectively ING's insurance operations - reflect the insurance group's strong local competitive positions across a number of markets, highly diverse profile and flexibility to manage capital adequacy and liquidity across the ING group," S&P analyst Mark Button said in a statement.

"These positive factors are partially offset by continued pressure on capital adequacy and leverage because of investment risk exposures. Earnings also remain constrained by both the difficult operating environment and initiatives to reduce asset risk."

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