ING reports 3.2-billion-euro exposure to Greek bonds

(THE HAGUE) - Dutch bank and insurance group ING reported Wednesday an exposure of 3.2 billion euros (4 billion dollars) to Greek government bonds.

This was comprised of a 1.9-billion-euro exposure by ING Bank and 1.3 billion euros by ING Insurance, the group said in a statement announcing its 2010 first quarter results.

ING said its exposure to Spanish bonds totalled 2.8 billion euros with 1.8 billion euros of that by ING Bank, and to Portuguese bonds it was 1.6 billion euros, with 1.4 billion euros by ING Bank.

As at March 31, ING had total exposure to government bonds around the world of 94.4 billion euros, five billion euros more than at December 31, 2009, it said.

Foreign banks are exposed to 236.2 billion dollars of public and private debt in Greece, of which about 50 billion euros is on the books of French banks, putting them at the top of the list in terms of exposure.