ING announces 2,350 job losses as it trims insurance operations
DUTCH financial group ING will cut more than 2,000 jobs over the next two years as it prepares to separate its banking and insurance operations.
The job losses are made up of 1,350 of its 12,000 staff in European insurance operations, and 1,000 of its 10,500 commercial banking employees worldwide.
That is thought to include 300 roles in its UK leasing business.
The cuts should save the bank a total of €460m (£367.3m) per year from the end of 2015.
Chairman Jan Hommen praised the dedication of the departing staff: “It is painful to announce such steps because throughout these challenging times employees at all levels have worked tirelessly to prepare businesses for divestment and secure strong stand-alone futures for the bank and insurance [units].”
The announcement comes after Swiss bank UBS revealed it will cut 10,000 jobs as it scales back parts of its investment bank, while German Deutsche Bank is cutting 1,900 positions.
The group reported third-quarter profits of €609m, down 64 per cent on the year.