Former ING CEO personally prosecuted in major money laundering case

Former ING CEO Ralph Hamers will be personally prosecuted for the major money laundering scandals for which the Dutch bank paid a 775 million euros fine in a settlement agreement with the Public Prosecutor in 2018. The court decided Hamers should be personally prosecuted in an Article 12 procedure filed by the company information research foundation SOBI, NOS reports.

The 2018 settlement did not include the prosecution of Hamers. With an Article 12 procedure, claimants can ask the court to force prosecution. That now happened, the Public Prosecution Service (OM) confirmed to the broadcaster.

"The facts are serious, no settlement was reached with the director himself, nor has he taken public responsibility for his actions," the court ruled. "The court considers it important that in a public criminal trial the standard is confirmed that directors of a bank do not go unpunished if they have actually led serious prohibited behavior."

ING said in a response that it regrets the decision to prosecute its former CEO. "This goes against the OM's assessment that there is no basis for a case against ING employees or former employees," the bank said.

Hamers is now the CEO of Swiss bank UBS. The Swiss bank told Reuters that it has taken note of the Dutch court's decision, but is confident that Hamers will be able to continue to lead UBS.