Romanian team develops global hedge accounting platform for ING

A dedicated team from ING Hubs România has successfully developed a new hedge accounting platform that now processes around 75% of the bank's hedge accounting volumes. This innovative platform is part of ING's broader strategy to evolve its Wholesale Banking division, contributing to a more efficient and resilient technological foundation.

The team at ING Hubs România, comprised of 12 specialists with complementary roles, focused on building local expertise in hedge accounting. They encouraged engineers to collaborate closely with users, ensuring the platform was designed with their needs in mind. This teamwork allowed them to adopt engineering practices that support long-term development and continuous testing.

As part of ING's global network of capability centers, which includes over 13,000 specialists from various countries, the Romanian team has shown how local expertise can enhance global operations. The platform is already in use by users in Amsterdam and Brussels, marking a significant step in ING's implementation efforts.

Bouke Hoving, Global CIO for Wholesale Banking, highlighted the importance of hedge accounting in understanding financial results, comparing it to insurance. By correlating risk management activities with financial reporting, the platform allows for a clearer reflection of the impacts of hedging instruments against the risks they are meant to mitigate.

This project not only transforms a specialized capability into a standardized global platform but also provides the bank with greater control over the evolution of its solutions. Users are reaping the benefits of faster processing, enhanced consistency, and improved reliability, as the platform has moved beyond pilot stages to become fully operational.

As ING aims to become the best European bank by 2030, projects like this underscore the vital role that the Romanian team plays in shaping the future of banking technology. By illustrating how expertise from different areas of ING can come together, this initiative sets a positive example of innovation within the industry.