NYSE Auditing ING Investment Arm

ING Group NV said its ING Barings investment banking unit is being audited by the New York Stock Exchange for amassing a backlog of unsettled stock trades caused by a surge in emerging-market trading.

The number of transactions, however, is "much less" than the 2,000 reported in London's Sunday Telegraph, ING spokesman Ruud Polet said.

He called it a "regular audit" with no investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission or the NYSE.

Cees Maas, chief financial officer of ING Group, added in an interview in Hong Kong: "It is preliminary, and we are in the process of commenting on this" to the New York Stock Exchange.

Many banks are experiencing problems trading in emerging markets. Settling trades and registering stock ownership often takes weeks because there are no central settlement systems and because bookkeeping often is done by hand.

That increases the likelihood of errors.

"Trading in emerging markets makes it difficult to comply with these criteria 100%," Mr. Maas said, referring to the NYSE's standards for settlement. - Bloomberg News

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