Prosecutor in appeal against disciplinary acquittal ING CEO Hamers

The former top of ING who was involved in a substantial salary increase for CEO Ralph Hamers in 2018 still has a chance of a disciplinary penalty. The prosecutor has appealed against the earlier acquittal, the Bank Disciplinary Law Foundation reported on Friday.

According to the first instance decision of the Disciplinary Committee, two supervisory directors, Jeroen van der Veer and Henk Breukink, and chairman of the board Ralph Hamers did not act in violation of the Banker’s Oath, when it was proposed in 2018 to give Hamers a 50 percent pay increase, which meant that his wages would amount to about 3 million euros per year. However, the Disciplinary Committee was of the opinion that the remuneration proposal ‘has not contributed to public confidence in the banking sector’.

At the time, ING’s top management believed that a pay rise was necessary because Hamers’ salary was too out of step with the earnings of the top executives of other large European banks. A few days later after great public and political commotion, the proposal was withdrawn. “The council underestimated the public response in the Netherlands in this sensitive matter,” said chairman of the board Jeroen van der Veer at the time.

Also read: Five years of banking disciplinary law: the black sheep, not (yet) the boss

The prosecutor of the Bank Disciplinary Law Foundation argues in the case that the three top executives have not made the moral-ethical consideration that the Banker’s Oath, which all employees of a bank must take, would require. The prosecutor is demanding a two-year professional ban for the two commissioners and a one-year suspended professional ban for Hamers. The Appeals Committee will now once again consider the indictment and the sentence.

Simon Lelieveldt was the one who reported to the Prosecutor of the Disciplinary Commission in 2018 of a possible violation of the bankers’ oath by Hamers and the commissioners. The former employee of the Dutch Banking Association calls it “very nice” and “also very important from a social perspective” that an appeal has been lodged. “It is obvious to me that the disciplinary judge does not want to burn his fingers on this case, which is quite sensitive for the disciplinary judges involved in content, morality, but also in terms of reputation. But this case deserves a more thorough treatment than it has now.”

It is exceptional that an appeal is lodged by the prosecutor. Every year, approximately 25 judgments are rendered in first instance, after which an appeal follows on average in only one case.

Also read: Hamers is still being prosecuted, but UBS is thriving under his rule

Hamers left for the Swiss UBS in 2020, where he earned 11.5 million euros last year. In addition to the disciplinary case – with only a possible Dutch suspension as a result – there is still a criminal case against him in the Netherlands. The Public Prosecution Service will soon announce when he must appear in court.

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