NETHERLANDS – Banc-assurer ING has said it will shed 1,350 jobs at its Dutch pensions insurer Nationale Nederlanden.

According to Jan Hommen, ING's chairman, the measure is part of an "acceleration" of its subsidiary's transformation programme to "sharpen strategic focus" and improve processes and systems.

He said the measures would result in annual savings of approximately €200m by the end of 2014.

An additional 1,000 jobs are to go at ING's commercial banking operations in Europe, following an earlier decision to withdraw from several countries, including the UK, and refocus on its home market.

A spokesman at ING said he could not specify how the announced job losses would affect the pensions business of Nationale Nederlanden, adding that final decisions on redundancies would be announced during the first quarter of 2013.

The European Commission ordered ING to divide its business into standalone bank and insurance companies after it received financial support from the Dutch government in 2008-09.

Hommen said ING and the Dutch state had made "good progress" in a "constructive dialogue" with the European Commission about revisions to the restructuring plan.

However, he could not indicate when the negotiations would be completed.

ING posted a net quarterly profit of €609m. Its operational result from Life Insurance and Investment Management was €357m, a decline of 9.6% during the last quarter and a 17% decrease year on year.

The company's administrative expenses were down 1.7% from the second quarter, "reflecting continuing focus on costs control in all regions".

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