Netherlands-based ING Group has announced that its supervisory board will propose to the 2008 annual general meeting of shareholders the appointment of Ernst & Young as its sole audit firm.
The decision to assign the external audit of ING Group and its subsidiaries to one single audit firm will allow ING to improve efficiency of the audit activities and to reduce audit costs.
Since the creation of ING Group in 1991 as a result of the merger of insurer Nationale-Nederlanden and NMB Postbank Groep, ING has engaged with two external audit firms. Now that important change programs such as the implementation of IFRS and Sox404 have been completed, the supervisory board has decided to convert to one single audit firm.
If the annual general meeting appoints Ernst & Young (E&Y) in 2008, it will perform the external audit of ING Group as of 2008.