ING Private on the market

ING may sell its private banking operations in Asia as well as some or all of the operations in Europe. The Wall Street Journal reported the sale yesterday, with separate confirmation of the plan reported by Reuters and Bloomberg.

The Asian assets might attract the attention of ANZ, though probably not any other Australian bank.

ING is seeking about US$600 million for its Asian private banking division, Bloomberg reported. The business has offices in Singapore, Hong Kong and the Philippines, according to the company website site. The business is "relatively strong" in Indonesia as well, according to the report in the Journal.

Assets under management was around €11 billion at the end of the March 2009 quarter.