Wholesale banking head Andrew Bester explains the renowned retail bank’s ambition to win new revenues building on its expertise in sustainable finance.

Twenty-five years ago in Spain, ING launched a branchless bank – still its biggest greenfield retail operation. Euromoney asks Iberia chief executive Ignacio Juliá Vilar what still makes it stand out from both incumbents and newer arrivals.

Corporates’ longstanding complaint on banks’ payments offerings is that they don’t know what they are being charged for but suspect it is too much. Airwallex now provides an alternative at global scale.

The Netherlands wants biodiversity to be at the forefront of agricultural reform. But the government’s plan to buy out livestock farmers – which was behind the resignation of agriculture minister Henk Staghouwer last week – is a short-sighted solution.

The government is prepared to take drastic measures to reduce the nitrogen produced by livestock. But as farmers resist being pushed out of a profitable sector, the dispute demonstrates the cost of turning climate agendas into a race to cut emissions as quickly as possible.

While ING is paring back the retail-banking ambitions held dear by former CEO Ralph Hamers, sustainable finance is helping the wholesale bank become a growth engine for the group.

The specialist loan servicer and portfolio manager has grown fast but sees high demand from banks and investors to manage illiquid credit.

Rabobank CEO Wiebe Draijer says that private finance must have a role in financing the transition to a more sustainable, equitable and healthy way of feeding the planet.

Sustainable agriculture holds the key to reducing emissions and transforming the global food system, says Rabo Carbon Bank’s chief executive.

The former Commerzbank chief executive and co-head of wealth management at UBS heads a strong team to help company founders with running a public company.

Ralph Hamers’ project to centralize ING’s operations was flawed from the outset. Scrapping it is sensible, but a mark against his legacy.

Exits at ABN Amro, including its big operation in commodity trade finance, raise questions about ING, as both firms enjoy much better returns in Dutch retail lending.

Now an independent firm outside ING, Katana is upgrading its algos and scanning more bonds for correlation trades between pairs not normally linked.

Former PwC executive Robert Swaak is a 'safe pair of hands', but a money laundering investigation and negative rates heighten existential doubt at ABN Amro.

To reduce greenhouse gas emissions, clean up water supplies, prevent the loss of biodiversity, mitigate fire and flood risk and meet the nutritional requirements of a growing population the world must improve its regenerative and sustainable agricultural practices – new tools and support from the financial services industry are needed to fund that transition.

Digital-obsessed chief executive Ralph Hamers has pushed ING towards what is perhaps the biggest bank transformation in Europe. Can it become a model for how to build a globally competitive retail bank, straddling the continent’s fragmented markets?

Digital overhauls at ING and Nordea will not tempt others to follow.

Banking is a secondary need.

Triodos Bank is probably the most sustainable bank in the world. Behind every decision it makes – the loans and investments it underwrites, the people it hires, the suppliers it uses, the way it reports and the way it serves its stakeholders – lies sustainability. It also makes a profit. Is it a model for the broader industry?

ING's online bank is getting ready for a future as an e-commerce portal

Flow Traders is confident that the approach that has made it the leading player in the European exchange-traded products (ETP) market can be replicated in FX as it looks to cash in on increased interest in non-bank market makers.

Loan margin pressures at the Dutch bank may be structural.

The Dutch bank’s future as a standalone bank is once again in question.

Despite healthy profits, is Kees van Dijkhuizen doing enough to close the digital gap with ING – and what happens when the Dutch mortgage market turns? Are the chief executive and his team capable of forging a longer-term rationale for the bank?