ING managers to forgo 2008 bonuses

Financial services company ING is asking its top management to forgo their bonuses over 2008 following a storm of public protest.

ING is asking its top management to return some of the 300 million euros in bonuses paid out over 2008 after the bank and insurance company came under severe criticism.

Jan Hommen, ING's ceo, told the Volkskrant in an interview on Monday that he is making a "moral appeal" to the company's 1,200 top managers. Hommen said many managers are prepared to forego their 2008 bonuses.

ING had come under criticism for paying out bonuses to some 40,000 staff members following a government bail-out last year which cost the Dutch taxpayer 10 billion euros.

Last week, Dutch finance minister Wouter Bos slammed ING after news broke that ING's new chief financial officer, Patrick Flynn, was getting 400.000 euros worth of ING stock after only three months in the job.

Hommen defended ING over Flynn's stock options package, saying that it was not a bonus "but compensation for what he was leaving behind at his old employer's". ING has suspended bonuses for 2009 pending a new remuneration policy.