ING Antai (ING安泰人壽) yesterday said it was financially independent, and would not be affected by its Dutch parent company’s losses of 500 million euros (US$673 million) last quarter, a company representative said yesterday.
“We reported NT$2.5 billion in first two quarters of this year while maintaining a 200 percent ratio of risk-based capital [RBC],” said Danny Lam (林順才), senior vice president of ING Antai.
The company’s response came after ING Groep NV announced on its Web site on Friday that it had also been hit by turmoil in financial markets and declining asset prices, in an attempt to ease growing concerns among local clients.
“ING Antai’s business model in Taiwan is also very sound. Thus, there will be absolutely no impact on our clients’ rights,” the Taipei-based subsidiary said in a statement released yesterday, adding that its parent “ING Group has very strong confidence in its finance and capital position.”
ING Antai sought to assure local policyholders that its business model is sound as its 200 percent RBC ratio meets the Financial Supervisory Commission’s (FSC) requirements, and the company also has a strict investment risk management system.
ING Group said its capital position last quarter was still in line with targets, with tier 1 ratio of ING Bank standing at 8.5 percent, and core tier 1 capital ratio at 6.5 percent on Sept. 30.
However, ING Group admitted it is not immune from the effects of financial market turbulence.
“Current developments in financial markets are unprecedented ... The crisis is far reaching, and even the healthiest companies are feeling the negative effects,” said Michel Tilmant, chief executive officer of ING Group, as quoted in the company statement.
Despite the approximately 500 million euro loss last quarter, ING Group said it was still profitable with 3.5 billion euros that it made in the first half of the year.
Compared to the world’s top 24 financial institutions, whose asset losses have accumulated to as high as 435 billion euros, ING Group said its operations and capital position are still rather healthy.
ING Antai turned from a branch into a subsidiary in March 2006. The company registered a profit of NT$8.17 billion (US$250 million) last year, and NT$1.35 in the first half of this year.
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