ING to lay off 100 in Minneapolis, St. Cloud

Updated: January 13, 2009 - 9:00 PM

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ING Group NV plans to lay off approximately 100 people in Minnesota -- 86 in Minneapolis and 14 in St. Cloud.

The cuts amount to slightly less than 8 percent of the Dutch bank and insurance company's Minnesota employees, who work in the insurance, asset management, retirement services and annuities businesses. Overall, ING plans to reduce its U.S. workforce from 11,000 people to 10,250. The 750 affected employees are being told this week of the cuts, which will be completed by the end of the first quarter, ING spokesman Dana Ripley said.

"ING regrets having to make these difficult decisions but unfortunately, the current weak environment has required us to align the size of our business with the expected business activity for 2009," Ripley said. "We remain confident in the future direction of our U.S. business."

ING was among the world's top 20 financial services companies in terms of market capitalization as recent as 10 months ago, but its stock has lost nearly three quarters of its value since then.

ING shares fell 49 cents, or 4.4 percent, to close at $10.74. They've traded between $6.37 and $40.67 in the past 52 weeks.

KARA MCGUIRE