As announced on 9 October 2012, the transaction is a result of ING's continuous evaluation of its portfolio of businesses and is in line with ING's strategic objectives of sharpening the focus of the bank and further strengthening its capital position.

As part of the transaction, ING has transferred GBP 11.6 billion (EUR 13.4 billion at current exchange rates) of ING Direct UK's savings and deposits and GBP 5.5 billion (EUR 6.4 billion) of mortgages to Barclays. As previously announced, part of the UK investment portfolio has matured or has been liquidated to facilitate the transaction. The impact of these two transactions was booked in the third and the fourth quarter results of 2012.

The combined loss for the transfer of the business and the investment portfolio is approximately EUR 260 million, which is lower than the expected loss of EUR 320 million at announcement, as favourable market circumstances have resulted in a lower loss on the investment portfolio.

The transaction will lead to a capital release of approximately EUR 280 million in the first quarter of 2013 due to a reduction in Risk Weighted Assets. This is expected to result in a positive impact on ING Bank's core Tier 1 ratio of 12 basis points based on ING Bank's core Tier 1 ratio of 11.9% at 31 December 2012.

The ING Direct units in Australia, Austria, France, Germany, Italy and Spain are not affected by today's announcement. ING continues to invest to evolve the ING Direct business model, increasing the product offering and extending distribution, while integrating the balance sheet with the rest of ING Bank. The ING Commercial Banking activities in the UK are also not affected by today's announcement.