ING to cut 230 jobs as it has ‘too many’ managing directors

[AMSTERDAM] ING Groep announced a round of cuts focused on senior staff, saying there are just too many of them.

The Dutch lender plans to eliminate 230 roles across its wholesale banking division, according to a statement on Monday (Jun 30). The cuts “will be focused on Directors and Managing Directors in commercial, front office roles” as the lender has “too many senior roles,” it said.

Shares in ING were 2.1 per cent lower at 11.15 am in Amsterdam. The stock is up about 23 per cent this year to date, compared with about 30 per cent for the wider European banking sector.

ING has guided for costs to rise to as much as 12.7 billion euros (S$19 billion) this year. The metric grew by 5.5 per cent in the first quarter on the previous year’s period, with ING largely attributing the change to “the impact of inflation on staff expenses.”

European banks have cited macroeconomic uncertainty and geopolitical tensions as rising risks for their businesses as a result of the global trade war.

ING on Monday said the cuts were prompted by a combination of “market circumstances” and the goal of “re-balancing” staff. The cuts will be split proportionally across its locations, it said.

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The company had 17,287 employees in the wholesale banking division at the end of the first quarter.

Competitor ABN Amro Bank earlier this year announced a hiring freeze to help meet its full-year cost guidance and a reorganisation of its corporate banking unit in June.

Slower pace

ING chief executive officer Steven van Rijswijk told Bloomberg News earlier this month that he may slow the pace of share buybacks after increasing the amount of money he wants to keep in the bank as safety cushion.

ING will continue to hire in areas where it needs to grow “specialist skills,” it said in the statement. The company also wants to “increase the size of our pool of junior talent.”

The bank is also exploring the possibility of acquiring a US banking licence, a move that could bolster its access to US dollar liquidity in exchange for greater supervision by US regulator, Bloomberg reported in May. The bank has been bolstering the treasury department of its ING Americas division ahead of the push. BLOOMBERG