European Commission opens new ING probe

(BRUSSELS) - The European Commission said Friday it had opened an investigation into changes to the restructuring of Dutch banking giant ING, which in 2008 benefited from large-scale state aid.

The banking group accepted a 10-billion-euro ($14.2 billion) cash injection from the Dutch government in October 2008 as financial markets reeled from the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy.

As part of compensation for the bailout, the European Commission insisted the financial services group restructure.

The commission said Friday the Dutch government and ING had notified it of a number of changes to the restructuring plan, and that the commission considers that their complexity warrants a thorough analysis.

The commission would look into several issues, including ING's repayment terms since the bailout and whether it used state aid to expand its activities in Italy, to the detriment of its competitors.

The commission also said it gave the green light to the restructuring plan as presented in 2009, before the changes.