ING, which agreed to an extension of its
Jan Hommen, CEO ING Group, today is wishing his employees a happy new year while warning them of more layoffs ahead. “I hope you celebrated the start of 2013 in good spirits with family and friends,” said Hommen, in his missive to employees today in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
“In 2012 we took significant steps to de-risk and strengthen our balance sheet, we strengthened our financial buffers, we divested parts of our business and we reduced our risk profile. These steps also resulted in a reduction in employment both at the bank and at insurance/investment Management. I am aware that it has had an impact not only on those directly affected, but also on their colleagues. I regret that this was an unavoidable decision.”
Hommen added that while the firm has reduced expenses, it is also “confronted with headwinds including higher regulatory costs and the Dutch bank tax, and we must continue to align our cost structure to a leaner operating environment.”
