ING Group

Three in five Romanians make the decision to buy a new home in no more than three months, and most view a maximum of five properties before the purchase, found an international ING survey on home ownership. "Although half of Romanians say that finding a home that ticked all their selection criteria was difficult, they were the most determined and fastest to decide in Europe in 2020.

ING Group plans to shed 7,000 jobs and invest heavily in its digital platforms to achieve annual savings of 900 million euros ($1 billion) by 2021, the Netherlands' largest financial services company said on Oct. 3.
The layoffs represent slightly less than 12 percent of ING's 52,000 workforce because nearly 1,000 are expected to come at suppliers rather than the company itself.

Turkey's Fibabanka has joined the ranks of banks interested in buying HSBC's Turkish unit, two sources close to the matter told Reuters, a business that is also being considered by ING Group.

HSBC is dragging its feet on the sale of its Turkish business to ING Group, two sources familiar with the matter said, as the bank is no longer in a hurry to exit Turkey after securing a hefty $5.2 billion for its Brazilian unit.

HSBC is set to agree to sell its Turkish business to Dutch lender ING Group for around $700 million-$750 million in the next few days, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters on July 22.

HSBC, the 12th-largest bank in Turkey, is selling the money-losing business in a global drive to cut costs and assets, boost profitability and reduce complexity.

Qatar National Bank and Bahrain?s Arab Bank Corp did not follow up early interest in acquiring HSBC?s Turkish business because they are more interested in National Bank of Greece?s Turkish arm Finansbank, two people familiar with the matter said.

Dutch lender ING Group has emerged as the leading bidder for HSBC?s Turkish business, a person familiar with the matter said on July 2.

Three people familiar with the matter said HSBC had narrowed down the field to one suitor, and one of the sources said that it was ING.

ING Group, BNP Paribas and Bahrain-based Arab Banking Corp (ABC) have submitted bids to buy HSBC's Turkish business, a source familiar with the process said on May 29.

The source said the bids are non-binding, suggesting that the process could still take some time to complete, but that one-to-one talks have begun.

Turkish consumers have shown the highest demand for mobile banking across Europe, with Turkey the only country where more than half the population uses mobile banking services, a survey by ING Group showed April 9.