Patrick Beselaere, the head of leasing at ING, has hinted that more banks will follow the Dutch firm’s example and wind down leasing businesses in significant European markets, with at least one already in the process of doing so.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with Leasing Life for the first time since ING Lease announced it was putting its UK business into run-off as well as exiting four other markets, Beselaere said other banks are undertaking the same review of their leasing operations as ING did last year.

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Beselaere said ING put all its leasing businesses under review as the bank reacted to the "changed world" of capital scarcity. Five leasing businesses, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, Ukraine and the UK, were identified as no longer fitting with a leaner, more integrated commercial banking model and were subsequently wound down.

Beselaere said: "You can be sure that all bank-related lessors have the same concerns [as ING did].

"I think we have been a forerunner in this process of strategic review and we have been candid in this process. I know that other banks are doing the same but are not being explicit in the way they communicate it."

In an interview for the March edition of Leasing Life, Beselaere said he believes the shape of the European leasing market has already begun changing and he expects bank-owned lessors to take a less dominant role in future with captives and independents increasing market share.

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Despite being active in just the Benelux markets plus Turkey and Poland, after having also wound down leasing in six markets prior to the five withdrawals in 2012, Beselaere said leasing is still an important product within ING Commercial Banking and he intends to grow business volumes in its five remaining markets.

 

The full interview with Patrick Beselaere will appear in the March edition of Leasing Life