On April 16, 2002, Standard & Poor's revised to negative from stable the outlook on ING Life Insurance Co. Ltd. following the lowering of the long-term sovereign ratings on Japan to 'AA-' with a negative outlook on April 15, 2002. ING Life is an operational unit of ING Asia Pacific, which, in turn, is one of four major operating groups of ING Group ('AA-' implied issuer credit rating), a worldwide financial services organization based in Amsterdam. ING Life has been operating in Japan since 1986, first as a branch of Nationale-Nederlanden Life Rotterdam, ING's flagship life insurance company, and then, since 1995, as a separate corporate entity. Strategic importance. ING Group considers Japan to be one of the most important
