Banking unions are to meet ING representatives later this week to discuss the financial services group’s plans to separate off the insurance activities, the Financieele Dagblad reports.

On Monday it emerged ING is to split off its insurance operations and continue as a bank, following what the Financial Times describes as ‘intense pressure’ from the European commission about state aid. ING has had a €10bn bail-out from the government.
The separation has a target date of 2013. ‘So it will be years before staff know what will happen to them,’ FNV banking union official Fred Polhout told the paper.
ING did not make any comment about possible job losses stemming from the restructuring, the paper said.
‘It is obviously extremely difficult to estimate the effect on employment levels,’ said Sandra Hendriks, of the CNV banking union. Staff who work in departments which cover both ING’s insurance and banking activities will be the first to notice the changes as their work is separated, she said.
Merger

ING has offered both banking and insurance services since 1991 following the merger with Nationale Nederlanden.
The company currently has a global workforce of over 100,000, of whom 30,000 are employed in the Netherlands.
ING’s CEO Jan Hommen said at yesterday’s presentation he expected the company to employ more than that in the Netherlands by the beginning of 2014, ANP said.