The Netherlands Kicks Off US Mortgage Sale

By Maarten van Tartwijk

AMSTERDAM--The Netherlands Wednesday said it will launch an auction to sell a portfolio of U.S. mortgage-backed securities which it acquired from Dutch bank ING Groep NV (ING) at the height of the financial crisis.

The Dutch State Treasury Agency, which is in charge of the sale, said it expects to sell the assets within 12 months. The decision to launch the auction was based on "the continued improvement in the U.S. housing market and a high level of interest by investors," it said in a statement.

The Dutch government became the owner of the assets in 2009 after it struck a deal with ING to take over 80% of the risks on a portfolio of U.S. mortgage-backed securities. The portfolio landed ING in deep trouble amid fears of hefty losses caused by the U.S. housing bust.

The portfolio was mainly made up of so-called Alt-A loans, for which borrowers often had to produce little evidence of income or assets.

In November, the government reached agreement with ING to unwind the facility and that it expects to make a gain of 400 million euros ($543.6 million) on an eventual sale. BlackRock Solutions will execute the sale process.

At the end of September, the portfolio's nominal value was EUR9 billion, down from EUR24 billion since the start of the facility in early 2009.

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