The European court of justice on Friday ruled that part of the European Commission’s decision to force ING to sell some operations in return for state aid were wrong.

ING was ordered to divest large parts of its operations in return for a €10bn bail-out. The money could be repaid within three years with a 50% premium or converted into shares.
However, the government allowed ING to repay €5bn of the debt early, at an interest rate of up to 22%. The Commission ruled this amounted to an extra €2bn in state aid and imposed extra conditions on the bank.
It is not yet clear what the implications of the ruling, which was welcomed by both ING and the Dutch state, will be.
Court ruling in full
According to the Financieele Dagblad, ING now wants to talk to the Commission about changing the conditions and the restructuring process. In particular, the bank wants a change of heart on the forced sale of the Westland Utrecht mortgage bank.