ING Executives Available to Comment on IRS' Just-Released 403(b) Regulations

  WHO:
       Bill Jasien, senior vice president, head of education & retail market
        distribution, ING
       Linda Segal Blinn, vice president, Technical Services, ING

  WHAT:
       The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released new 403(b) regulations,
       updated to reflect over 40 years of tax acts.

       A 403(b) plan, a retirement savings plan for teachers, health-care
       workers and other non-profit employees, is similar to a 401(k) plan.
       The new regulations will make the 403(b) plan more closely resemble
       the 401(k) by placing more administrative responsibilities on the
       public school and 501(c)(3) employers for plan oversight.  Many may
       choose to limit the number of 403(b) vendors available to employees.
       The IRS also provided guidance around the role of the employer in
       authorizing loans, hardship distributions, and other disbursements
       from the 403(b) plan.

       As a leader in the 403(b) market, ING has been providing investment
       products and services to education community 403(b) programs since
       1967.  ING has been planning for these regulations.  ING is prepared
       to help school business officials evaluate their 403(b) program so
       they can make sure the program operates within the guidelines set
       forth in the IRS regulations.

  WHERE:       Via phone

  CONTACT:     Phil Margolis, phil.margolis@us.ing.com, 860-723-4783

More information can be found at http://www.ing.com/us/403bregs and http://www.ustreas.gov/press/releases/hp501.htm

ING is a 403(b) provider in over 12,000 school districts and more than 1.250 higher education plans. It has over $20.9 billion of US education assets and more than 620,000 individual 403(b) program participants in the education market (according to internal data as of December 31, 2006).

ING is a global financial institution of Dutch origin offering banking, insurance and asset management to over 60 million private, corporate and institutional clients in more than 50 countries. With a diverse workforce of over 120,000 people, ING comprises a broad spectrum of prominent companies that increasingly serve their clients under the ING brand.

In the U.S. (NYSE: ING), the ING family of companies offer a comprehensive array of financial services to retail and institutional clients which include life insurance, retirement plans, mutual funds, managed accounts, alternative investments, direct banking, institutional investment management, annuities, employee benefits, financial planning, and reinsurance. ING holds top-tier rankings in key U.S. markets and serves over 20 million customers across the nation. For more information, visit http://www.ing.com/.

PRNewswire - July 27

SOURCE: ING U.S. Financial Services

Web site: http://www.ing.com/us/403bregs
http://www.ustreas.gov/press/releases/hp501.htm
http://www.ing.com/
http://www.ing.com/us