UBS is poised to appoint the current boss of Dutch retail lender ING to replace long-standing CEO Sergio Ermotti, according to a report.

The Swiss wealth manager is preparing to name Ralph Hamers, who has run Amsterdam-based ING for the last seven years, as CEO in place of Sergio Ermotti, the «Financial Times» reported late on Wednesday, citing undisclosed sources. The business outlet didn't detail Ermotti's exit date.

The appointment of Hamers, a 53-year-old Dutch banker who has scant wealth management experience, would be a surprising and bold choice for UBS, which has tilted its strategy towards private banking. Hamers is widely credited for radically shifting ING's priorities towards digital channels – far more quickly and successfully than its European counterparts – and for slashing branches as a result

Deal Clinched in 2019?

The newspaper reported that «it was decided» Ermotti's tenure as CEO would end, without elaborating. Unlike counterparts in Germany, for example, Ermotti's contract isn't up for renewal in regular intervals.

UBS' Chairman, Axel Weber, had offered Ermotti's job to Hamers after an executive search of both internal and outside candidates, the «FT» reported. The offer was reportedly extended several months ago.

Short of a Decade

The «FT» cited ING's postponement of a capital issuance on Wednesday due to «information has come to the issuer, that needs to be studied.» The paper said the move, despite healthy demand for the instruments, followed news internally that Hamers is leaving.

At UBS, the departure of Ermotti isn't a shock – he has been in the job for more than eight years. However, the timing is odd: the Swiss banker had told associates he wanted to close out a decade of running UBS, which would have meant an exit next spring at the earliest.