Dutch International Banking Giant ING axes 7,000 jobs as boss steps down - by Katherine Griffiths
ING, the Dutch banking giant, announced the departure of its chief executive and 7,000 job losses as it posted a loss of €1bn for 2008. ING's revelations came as BNP Paribas, France's biggest bank, unveiled worse-than-expected results for the fourth quarter of 2008. Michel Tilmant, ING's chief executive, stepped down with immediate effect because of the stress of his job in recent months, a spokesman said. "It has taken its toll on him . . . Basically, he's tired and has decided it would be in ING's best interests for a chief executive with more energy to take over," the spokesman said. Mr Tilmant will be replaced by board chairman Jan Hommen, 65, former chief financial officer of Dutch electronics group Philips, which separately also announced yesterday that it was cutting 6,000 jobs .
ING has turned to the Dutch government for the second time in three months for assistance. The new state loan guarantees are targeted at tackling investor uncertainty about ING's €27.7bn portfolio of "Alt-A" mortgage-backed securities, a class of asset that sits between prime and sub-prime. ING said it would cut €1bn of costs in 2009, by scrapping 7,000 jobs out of a total of about 130,000 worldwide. It also said it would re-evaluate its sponsorship of the Renault Formula One racing team.
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