ING Groep to sell business in Russia to Global Development JSC

ING announced that it has reached an agreement on the sale of its business in Russia to Global Development JSC, a Russian company owned by a Moscow-based financial investor with a background in factoring services. This transaction will effectively end ING‘s activities in the Russian market. Under the terms of the agreement, Global Development will acquire all shares of ING Bank JSC, taking over all Russian onshore activities and staff. Global Development intends to continue to serve customers in Russia under a new brand. The transaction, which has been preceded by extensive due diligence, is subject to various regulatory approvals and is expected to be closed in the third quarter of 2025. Since February 2022, ING has taken on no new business with Russian companies, has scaled down operations and has taken actions to separate the business from ING’s networks and systems. At the same time ING’s total lending exposure to Russian clients has been reduced by more than 75%. ING expects a negative P&L impact of around EUR 0.7B post tax. This includes an estimated book loss of around EUR 0.4B, representing the difference between the sale price and the book value of the business, which would have a negative impact of around five basis points on ING’s CET1 ratio. It also includes an estimated negative impact of around EUR 0.3B from recycling the currency translation adjustment through P&L, that is currently booked in equity for past changes of the value of ING Bank JSC as a result of exchange rate movements. This currency translation adjustment recycling will not affect ING’s CET1 ratio and resilient net profit. After the transaction, ING will continue to further reduce its offshore exposure to Russian clients. This exposure, which is booked by other ING entities outside of Russia, amounted to EUR 1B as of 30 September 2024, of which EUR 0.5B is under ECA or CPRI cover.