ING to shed 7,000 jobs worldwide

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Steve Chiotakis: Think it’s just American banks with all the trouble? No, not so. European powerhouse ING — one of the world’s biggest — is cutting more than 5 percent of its workforce. Thousands of jobs, with ramifications that’ll be felt the world over. From London, here’s Stephen Beard.

Stephen Beard: ING is shedding 7,000 jobs from its global workforce, and the Dutch company’s chief executive is stepping down. The company is not going bust, but like many global banks, it’s carrying a lot of American mortgage backed securities.

Along with the job cuts, ING is getting some help from the Dutch government. The taxpayers will now insure the bulk of these troubled assets.

Michael Prest of the financial Web site Breaking Views:

Michael Prest: It’s more a way of trying to reassure shareholders and perhaps depositors as well that these toxic assets are not going to drag the bank down. Because if the worst come to the worst, there is a backstop in the shape of the Dutch taxpayer.

He says ING is also under pressure because its insurance business in the U.S. is struggling.

In London, this is Stephen Beard for Marketplace.