The ING Group (ING), a Dutch banking and financial services provider, on Thursday posted a decline in earnings for the second quarter amidst a rise in operating expenses. In addition, the lender has declared an interim dividend over the first-half of €0.17 ($0.173) per share, to be paid on August 15. For the second quarter, the Amsterdam-headquartered firm posted a pre-tax result of €1.74 billion, compared with €2.06 billion in the same time period the previous year. The net result was at €1.17 billion, less than the €1.45 billion seen in the same quarter of the previous year. Total income sto…