THE HAGUE, Nov 1 — Top Dutch bank ING posted today a 43.6 per cent year-on-year drop in net profit for the third quarter, blamed on a multi-million-euro settlement with Dutch authorities in a money laundering probe.
Net earnings fell to €776 million (RM3.6 billion), in large part to the €775 million euros the Amsterdam-based lender said in September it paid to settle a criminal investigation into money laundering which found that ING had failed to ensure its accounts were not misused.
The amount included a €675 million fine and a reimbursement of €100 million which ING underspent on staffing to prevent money laundering.
“The third quarter of 2018 for ING was deeply marked by the settlement agreement with the Dutch public prosecution service,” chief executive Ralph Hamers said.
“As a bank, we have the responsibility to ensure that our operations meet the highest standards, especially when it comes to securing the integrity of our own operations and that of the financial system,” he said in a statement.
The scandal saw ING axe its chief financial officer Koos Timmermans after a two-year probe by Dutch authorities that found many white-collar crime suspects held accounts at the bank.
The case threatened to seriously damage ING’s reputation and triggered calls for the resignation of its directors.
But the dispute has not deterred customers, with ING saying it expanded its client base by 200,000 in the third quarter. The bank now has 38 million retail customers world-wide.
ING’s share price also climbed by more than 5.0 per cent to around 11 euros in mid-morning trade on the Amsterdam stock exchange’s blue-chip AEX index.
Revenue was up by 6.5 per cent to 2.12 billion euros year-on-year “driven by continued growth in loans with strong margins”, tight cost control and continued low-risk costs, although these were higher than in 2017, ING said.
The bank said it remained on track with its transformation plans “with a heightened resolve to strengthen our compliance risk management framework.”
ING employs more than 52,000 people in 40 countries around the world. — AFP
