ING announces changes to Executive Board and Management Board Banking
ING announced today that Ljiljana Cortan will be appointed head of Wholesale Banking and succeed Andrew Bester no later than at the day of the Annual General Meeting in April 2026. Ljiljana is currently chief risk officer (CRO), member of the Executive Board and the Management Board Banking and will continue in these roles until the changes take effect, at which point she will step down from the Executive Board of ING Groep N.V.
Ljiljana joined ING and took on her current role in 2021. She has more than 25 years of international banking experience in various positions in risk, corporate banking, strategy and business development, among others as head of Corporate and Investment Banking Strategy for Central and Eastern Europe and global head of Financial Institutions, Banks and Sovereigns at UniCredit. Before joining ING, she was a member of the Management Board and CRO at HypoVereinsbank, a subsidiary of UniCredit Germany.
Steven van Rijswijk, CEO of ING, commented: "I am pleased that we have an excellent internal successor with a strong track record of execution and leadership; she is well suited to lead our Wholesale Banking business. Ljiljana knows the business and organisation very well and has a great understanding of the many opportunities we have to further strengthen, diversify and grow our business."
"I would like to thank Andrew for his contributions during the last five years and his leadership of Wholesale Banking. Under his leadership, the foundations of our Wholesale Bank have strengthened significantly. His focus on client value, scaling up our business and attention to an inclusive culture have been highly valued. Andrew has positioned our wholesale bank well for further growth over the coming years."
Ljiljana Cortan said: "I look forward to taking up the leadership of our Wholesale Banking business. In my role as CRO and through the many contacts I have had with our colleagues and clients, I have seen the dedication and expertise we have, and I believe we have all the necessary elements to realise our full potential. I look forward to working with our teams to deliver on the next phase of our strategy to become the best European Wholesale bank. I would like to thank Andrew for our cooperation over the years, and I look forward to continuing that for the coming months."
Andrew Bester joined ING in April 2021 with more than 30 years of experience in banking and professional services including executive roles at Lloyds, Standard Chartered and Co-operative Bank.
Andrew said: "After a fulfilling and rewarding time at ING, it is time to step down from the Management Board and return to my UK home base to start the non-executive phase of my career. It has been a pleasure to help shape the bank to what it is today. I am grateful for the support, trust and collaboration shown by our clients. Thank you also to my fellow board members and all ING colleagues who have made my time so enjoyable. I look forward to continuing our good work in the coming months and in supporting an orderly handover to my board colleague Ljiljana."
The appointment of Ljiljana Cortan as head of Wholesale Banking is subject to regulatory approval. The search for a successor as CRO has been initiated, and announcements will be made in due course.
Note for editors
For further information on ING, please visit www.ing.com. Frequent news updates can be found in the Newsroom. Photos of ING operations, buildings and its executives are available for download at Flickr.
| Press enquiries | Investor enquiries |
| Raymond Vermeulen | ING Group Investor Relations |
| +31 20 576 5000 | +31 20 576 6396 |
| Raymond.Vermeulen@ing.com (mailto:Raymond.Vermeulen@ing.com) | Investor.Relations@ing.com (mailto:Investor.Relations@ing.com) |
ING PROFILE
ING is a global financial institution with a strong European base, offering banking services through its operating company ING Bank. The purpose of ING Bank is: empowering people to stay a step ahead in life and in business. ING Bank's more than 60,000 employees offer retail and wholesale banking services to customers in over 100 countries.
ING Group shares are listed on the exchanges of Amsterdam (INGA NA, INGA.AS), Brussels and on the New York Stock Exchange (ADRs: ING US, ING.N).
ING aims to put sustainability at the heart of what we do. Our policies and actions are assessed by independent research and ratings providers, which give updates on them annually. ING's ESG rating by MSCI was reconfirmed by MSCI as 'AA' in August 2024 for the fifth year. As of June 2025, in Sustainalytics' view, ING's management of ESG material risk is 'Strong' with an ESG risk rating of 18.0 (low risk). ING Group shares are also included in major sustainability and ESG index products of leading providers. Here are some examples: Euronext, STOXX, Morningstar and FTSE Russell. Society is transitioning to a low-carbon economy. So are our clients, and so is ING. We finance a lot of sustainable activities, but we still finance more that's not. Follow our progress on ing.com/climate.
IMPORTANT LEGAL INFORMATION
Elements of this press release contain or may contain information about ING Groep N.V. and/ or ING Bank N.V. within the meaning of Article 7(1) to (4) of EU Regulation No 596/2014 ('Market Abuse Regulation').
ING Group's annual accounts are prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards as adopted by the European Union ('IFRS- EU'). In preparing the financial information in this document, except as described otherwise, the same accounting principles are applied as in the 2024 ING Group consolidated annual accounts. All figures in this document are unaudited. Small differences are possible in the tables due to rounding.
Certain of the statements contained herein are not historical facts, including, without limitation, certain statements made of future expectations and other forward-looking statements that are based on management's current views and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance or events to di?er materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. Actual results, performance or events may di?er materially from those in such statements due to a number of factors, including, without limitation:
This document may contain ESG-related material that has been prepared by ING on the basis of publicly available information, internally developed data and other third-party sources believed to be reliable. ING has not sought to independently verify information obtained from public and third-party sources and makes no representations or warranties as to accuracy, completeness, reasonableness or reliability of such information.
Materiality, as used in the context of ESG, is distinct from, and should not be confused with, such term as defined in the Market Abuse Regulation or as defined for Securities and Exchange Commission ('SEC') reporting purposes. Any issues identified as material for purposes of ESG in this document are therefore not necessarily material as defined in the Market Abuse Regulation or for SEC reporting purposes. In addition, there is currently no single, globally recognized set of accepted definitions in assessing whether activities are "green" or "sustainable." Without limiting any of the statements contained herein, we make no representation or warranty as to whether any of our securities constitutes a green or sustainable security or conforms to present or future investor expectations or objectives for green or sustainable investing. For information on characteristics of a security, use of proceeds, a description of applicable project(s) and/or any other relevant information, please reference the offering documents for such security.
This document may contain inactive textual addresses to internet websites operated by us and third parties. Reference to such websites is made for information purposes only, and information found at such websites is not incorporated by reference into this document. ING does not make any representation or warranty with respect to the accuracy or completeness of, or take any responsibility for, any information found at any websites operated by third parties. ING specifically disclaims any liability with respect to any information found at websites operated by third parties. ING cannot guarantee that websites operated by third parties remain available following the publication of this document, or that any information found at such websites will not change following the filing of this document. Many of those factors are beyond ING's control.
Any forward-looking statements made by or on behalf of ING speak only as of the date they are made, and ING assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information or for any other reason.
This document does not constitute an o?er to sell, or a solicitation of an o?er to purchase, any securities in the United States or any other jurisdiction.
Attachment
- PDF version of press release (https://ml-eu.globenewswire.com/Resource/Download/596f31ab-768c-4aa4-ad75-11b67f380eaf)
