OREANDA-NEWS. ING announced today that the conversion of ING Groep N.V. depositary receipts for shares into ING Groep N.V. ordinary shares will take place on 26 July 2016. On that date investors will automatically receive one share in exchange for each depositary receipt that they own, free of charge. ING announced its proposal to abolish the depositary receipts structure on 10 March 2016. The conversion is the final step in abolishing the existing depositary receipt structure, following the majority vote in favour of agenda item 5A at ING's annual General Meeting (AGM) on 25 April 2016. The related changes to the Articles of Association - including the reduction of the nominal value of the shares from EUR 0.24 to EUR 0.01 - as adopted by the AGM will also be implemented on 26 July 2016.

The conversion of the depositary receipts will not lead to any interruption of trading in ING securities. The last day ING depositary receipts will be traded is 21 July 2016. In accordance with the applicable settlement rules these transactions will be settled on 25 July 2016. As of 22 July 2016, trading in ordinary shares will commence, with transactions settling on 26 July 2016. On that date, the automatic conversion will be implemented. ING will retain its Euronext ticker symbol, "INGA", except for 21 July when the ticker symbol for the depositary receipts will be INGAT for technical reasons. ING's ISIN code will change on 26 July 2016 to NL0011821202.

After the conversion, ING's American Depositary Receipts (ADRs), which are traded on the New York Stock Exchange, will automatically link to the underlying shares. Holders of ADRs do not have to take any action, and the conversion of the depositary receipts will not lead to any interruption of trading in the ADRs which will retain their existing security identifiers.

For those investors who already hold registered shares, there will be no change to their position.

Following the conversion of the depositary receipts into ordinary shares, the process to abolish ING's depositary receipt structure will have been completed, thereby simplifying ING's corporate governance structure.

ING is a global financial institution with a strong European base, offering banking services through its operating company ING Bank. The purpose of ING Bank is empowering people to stay a step ahead in life and in business. ING Bank's more than 52,000 employees offer retail and wholesale  banking services to customers in over 40 countries.

ING Group shares are listed (in the form of depositary receipts) on the exchanges of Amsterdam , Brussels and on the New York Stock Exchange.