ING Direct 2015 Annual Report Download - page 8

Contents
Who we are
Report of the
Management
Board
Corporate
Governance
Consolidated
annual accounts
Parent company
annual accounts
Other
information
Additional
information
Who we are - continued
Strong performance in 2015
We made progress on many fronts during 2015 in
building a bank able to support our customers and
fulfil its obligations to other stakeholders in the future.
We believe we are well positioned to continue to be
successful.
We support our Wholesale Banking clients with a global
network operating in over 40 countries. We added to
this network in 2015, expanding our presence in the
Americas, Asia and Europe.
Our strong balance sheet attests to the quality of our risk
management. We are among the best-capitalised listed
banks in the eurozone. We consistently demonstrate our
ability to generate capital and now have a limited need
for professional funding.
Our financial roadmap
We have published financial targets for 2017 reflecting
our ambitions. These include a Common Equity Tier
1 ratio above 10 percent, a leverage ratio at around 4
percent, 50-53 percent cost/income ratio and a 10-13
percent return on equity.
As of year-end 2015, we already met many Ambition 2017
targets, including in the areas of return on equity and
leverage ratio. We exceeded our Ambition 2017 fully loaded
CET 1 ratio target for the Bank of 10 percent. We will grow into
a comfortable buffer over time above the prevailing fully-
loaded requirements.
Market and regulatory context
Three key trends are having a major impact on ING and its
competitors. First, our financial performance is linked to the
prevailing uncertain economic conditions and low interest
rate environment. Second, the financial services sector is
subject to increasing regulatory scrutiny and costs. Third,
digitisation and changing customer behaviour are reframing
our markets. In combination, these trends are altering the
competitive context in which we operate.
ING Bank Annual Report 2015 6