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The matter was over: more than two years ago, the Dutch ING Bank paid 775 million euros for large-scale money laundering. The CFO took off his hat. The CEO, however, was not bothered.
Ralph Hamers (54) was in charge of the bank at the time. Today he is the head of UBS. And in Holland the supposedly closed case is reopened. Because there were “serious and structural deficiencies” in the bank, Hamers’ criminal liability had to be assessed, a court in The Hague ruled in December.
“The probability that Ralph Hamers will be prosecuted is more than 99 percent,” says Pieter Lakeman (78) in an interview with “NZZ am Sonntag”. The attorney general assured him by letter of January 8 that an indictment would be imposed.
Buses as a strategy
“I suppose Hamer’s position will be completely untenable on impeachment,” Lakeman said. “At least that would be the case in the Netherlands.”
Lakeman is a veteran shareholder advocate. He filed a complaint against the 2018 agreement and thus started the newly opened proceedings. The graduate economist specializing in econometrics made a name for himself after the financial crisis by uncovering an accounting scandal. In 2009, he asked clients of the Dutch bank DSB to withdraw their money because he was doing questionable business. Two weeks later, the bank declared bankruptcy.
Lakeman is concerned about the ever-higher settlement payments that financial institutions are making to protect themselves from prosecution. These are of no interest to shareholders, he tells “NZZ am Sonntag”. “In fact, managers can buy their way out at the expense of the company by accepting very high fines. In return, the prosecution is more willing to give up prosecuting administrators. “
Weber in Hamers
The president of UBS, Axel Weber (63), meanwhile supports its CEO. In an interview on Bloomberg TV last week, he said: “I am very confident that you can do a good job as CEO of UBS.”
But Weber limited himself: “We are monitoring the situation and will adjust it as it develops.” According to Bloomberg, UBS had informally discussed on the board of directors who could succeed him if Hamers became unsustainable.
On January 26, Hamers gave his first presentation as a director of UBS. In addition to the business figures, he wants to present the new strategy. Questions about ING are inconvenient. (ise)
