When Jan Hommen was approached to run ING Groep NV, the timing couldn't have been worse. The Dutchman was just planning to move to the U.S. and spend more time with his children and grandchildren. And, having little experience in banking and insurance, he was far from the obvious choice to guide the Dutch bancassurer through the biggest crisis in its history, The Wall Street Journal reported. "I have to admit that it was a bit disconcerting," he says. "My first thought was: Do I have what it takes to pull this off?" More than two years later, his doubts have faded.

Spyker Cars NV, which owns the troubled Swedish car maker Saab Automobile, is in talks with three Chinese companies about possible investments, according to two people familiar with the situation, as the Dutch car maker Friday cut its 2011 sales outlook and reported an operating loss for the first quarter. The Chinese companies are Great Wall Motor Co., China Youngman Automobile Group Co. and Jiangsu Yueda Group Co., two people familiar with the matter told Dow Jones Newswires.

The future of Saab Automobile remained uncertain Tuesday after its Dutch owner Spyker Cars NV said it had to fulfill additional conditions to win approval for its short-term funding plans and was unsure whether it could fulfill these conditions within a short period of time, The Wall Street Journal reported. Separately, parts suppliers said they would soon have to start laying off workers as a production suspension continued at Saab Automobile's plant in Trollhattan, Sweden.

A fund controlled by billionaire investor Len Blavatnik has been asked to return EUR100 million ($145.8 million) to the bankruptcy estate of chemical giant LyondellBasell Industries, which emerged from Chapter 11 protection last year but left a trustee to file lawsuits to recover funds for the company's unsecured creditors, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. In a lawsuit filed Friday with the U.S.

Dutch car maker Spyker Cars NV Friday said its funding situation was tight as its Saab Automobile unit continued to burn cash faster than expected, and it warned that the Swedish auto maker's future was in doubt if it couldn't secure additional financing, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. In its annual report published Friday, Spyker reiterated it was in talks to improve its financing and said it was confident it would happen. But how and from whom Spyker intends to get the required cash remains unclear.

Dutch bioscience company Pantarhei intends to bid for the bulk of U.S. company Merck's Netherlands-based bioscience research unit Organan, the Dutch Financieele Dagblad reported on Monday, Reuters reported. Pantarhei Bioscience director Herjan Coeling Bennink, told the paper that Pantarhie can make the proposal as a result of backing from international private equity investors. No financial details were provided. The private equity investors were not named either.

The Dutch Supreme Court ordered an end to KPNQwest's bankruptcy investigation, reducing the likelihood that administrators can recover 4.2 billion euros ($5.59 billion) in unpaid debt from shareholders KPN and Qwest, Reuters reported. KPNQwest, a wholesale fibre glass telecoms joint venture between U.S. phone carrier Qwest and Dutch telecoms group KPN for corporate customers, was listed in 1999 but went bankrupt in 2002 after the telecoms and technology bubble burst.

Iceland's business lobby said on Tuesday it had seen the outline of a draft deal on repaying Britain and the Netherlands and that it was much improved from one rejected by voters in March, Reuters reported. The head of the business lobby spoke after an Icelandic television station reported that a draft deal had been reached which would involve Iceland repaying 40-60 billion Icelandic crowns ($356-533 million) to the British and Dutch.

Dutch clothing brand Oilily says it’s bounced back from bankruptcy, pointing to the debut of its new kids’ clothing collection and its plans to launch a retail website geared toward U.S. shoppers, The Wall Street Journal Bankruptcy Beat blog reported. Oilily’s latest line of kids’ clothing is called the “Gypsy Tales of Freedom” collection. Shoppers at various retailers in 40 countries–including the U.S., China and Japan–can pick up brightly colored coats, striped stockings, dresses and slacks featuring handmade folk-style embroidery.

Dutch life insurance and pension giant Aegon said Tuesday it will have restructured its U.K. operations by the end of 2011 by closing two businesses and cutting senior management jobs, as it seeks to sharply cut costs at the struggling business, Dow Jones reported. Aegon reiterated that it intends to cut costs by 25%, detailing that it will do so by closing its third-party pension administration and employee benefits software businesses and scrapping "a number" of senior management position by the end of next year.