ING Says Its U.K. Gender Pay Gap Is Likely to Widen From 43%

(Bloomberg) -- ING Groep NV paid women in the U.K. an average of 43 percent less than its male employees last year, and the difference is likely to widen in 2018.

The Dutch lender became the latest finance firm to attribute substantial differences in pay to the large number of men in senior positions. ING's gender pay gap, published Tuesday, was higher than the 30 percent to 40 percent figures already disclosed by Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc and Lloyds Banking Group Plc, but less than the 59 percent gap at HSBC Holdings Plc.

Read more: All you need to know about the U.K. gender pay gap

ING's pay gap is likely to widen further because it's moving a number of Amsterdam traders to the U.K. Traders and other markets staff have some of the biggest pay gaps in the industry, the bank said in a statement.

Companies with 250 or more U.K. employees had until today to report the difference between what men and women earn. ING's pay gap widened to 63 percent for bonuses.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ruben Munsterman in Amsterdam at rmunsterman1@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Dale Crofts at dcrofts@bloomberg.net, Paul Armstrong, Patrick Henry

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