The ING group has announced that ING Life Japan will stop new sales of its SPVA products so that it can focus on its COLI business. Standard&Poor's reviewed ING Life Japan's ratings following the announcement and lowered to 'A' from 'A+' its financial strength and counterparty credit ratings on ING Life Japan, and removed all ratings from CreditWatch. The outlook is negative, reflecting uncertainty about the stability of in-force profitability, risk of weakening group support in the coming years, and resilience of ING Life Japan's new business franchise, which is now concentrated on the highly competitive COLI business. TOKYO (Standard&Poor's) July 2, 2009--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services today lowered to 'A' from 'A+' its financial strength