ING subprime mortgages sold off

The government sold the rest of the ING American subprime mortgages to Credit Suisse. In the previous two months the government already sold two other large parts of the American subprime mortgages. The subprime mortgages, also known as "Alt-A"-loans, were mortgages from people without a steady income.

In 2009 the Dutch Government rescued ING by purchasing these so-called "Alt-A"-loans. During the recession the loans became unsalable, because the expectation was for the homeowners to find themselves facing financial hardships. Now that the housing market in the U.S.A. has recovered, however, the mortgages could go back on the market. The mortgages had a value of $11.6 billion, according to ING records. Thursday it will be announced how much the government earned from the sale.