Different interpretations of EU-US trade deal mean uncertainty persists: ING CEO

Because the European Commission and United States president Donald Trump are interpreting their trade deal differently, uncertainty persists, said ING CEO Steven van Rijswijk during the presentation of the bank’s quarterly figures. “The uncertainty worries us,” Van Rijswijk said. He pointed out that nothing of the trade deal had been finalized yet.

According to ING Risk Director Ljiljana Čortan, “any deal is a good deal” because it can alleviate uncertainty. So far, the direct impact of the unrest on ING has been “small and manageable,” she said. This is because only a limited portion of EU exports are directed to the U.S. ING customers also have limited activity in sectors affected by the tariffs.

But the indirect impact of the unrest is still “uncertain,” according to Van Rijswijk. This primarily concerns consumer sentiment. They may be more cautious about spending due to all the uncertainty. However, ING is not yet seeing this as a significant development.

ING did notice the recent weaker economic growth in the Netherlands, albeit to a limited extent. The bank is seeing a decline in consumer payments for non-essential items like cinema visits or garden investments.

A large portion of ING’s income is focused on the mortgage market, which appears to be largely unaffected by economic headwinds. Due to the housing shortage, demand for homes remains high, and home prices, and thus mortgage amounts, are also steadily rising.

ING has also not seen a large influx of companies into its special management department for problem cases recently. In the second quarter, even slightly less went to the contingency fund than in the same period last year.