ING, one of Europe's largest banks, has scheduled a shareholder vote for 31 July 2026 to officially appoint Andrea Cesaroni as its new chief risk officer. That's the person in charge of deciding how much risk the bank can take and making sure it doesn't take too much. Cesaroni has worked in ING's risk department since 2022 and was named the incoming risk chief in June 2026 ING press release, 7 June 2026. The vote fills a job that has been empty since the previous chief risk officer, Ljiljana Čortan, left on 24 February 2026. She had held the role since 2021, and ING announced her planned departure in October 2025 ING EGM explanatory notes.

Think of a bank's chief risk officer as the brakes on a car. The car still moves forward and picks up speed, but someone has to make sure it can stop safely. Without effective risk controls, a bank can lend too aggressively, back the wrong industries, or take on exposure it cannot manage.

The vote happens one day after ING reports its second-quarter 2026 financial results, scheduled for Thursday, 30 July 2026 ING press release, 30 April 2026. So within the same 48 hours, shareholders will see how much money the bank made and then vote on the person who oversees how much risk was taken to make it.

Separately, ING has published a detailed article about its approach to lending money to defence companies. The piece, titled "How ING supports clients as defence evolves," appears in ING's "Difference Files" newsroom series ING Newsroom. The bank says it has moved "from cautious to considered," meaning it is more willing to work with defence clients now, but within set rules. ING publishes its full defence-sector stance at ing.com/sustainability/sustainable-business/our-stance/defence.

The article includes comments from three senior ING executives. Arnaud Stuart Cohen, ING's head of business ethics, raised the problem of geography: "What about conflict areas? Today, an area may be fine. Tomorrow, it might be a conflict." Amin Mansour, vice chairman of Wholesale Banking, noted that smaller companies are increasingly driving innovation in defence. Michał Mrożek, head of Central European Wholesale Banking, said government involvement is essential, especially for guaranteeing demand and managing risk.

Each of those comments points to a real risk the bank faces. Cohen's concern is about lending in unstable regions or where sanctions might apply. Mansour's point about smaller companies raises the question of whether a new firm with promising technology but little financial history can repay a loan. Mrożek's focus on government involvement highlights that state backing, like export-credit guarantees, can reduce the bank's risk.

The timing here is worth pausing on. ING is publishing its defence-financing approach the same week shareholders vote on a new risk chief. Lending to defence companies involves financial risk (will the borrower repay?), reputational risk (will customers or the public object?), and policy risk (do the bank's choices match its own rules and public expectations?). The shift from "cautious" to "considered" suggests ING is moving toward more active engagement with the sector rather than staying away from it. How Cesaroni handles that balance will be one of the first real tests of his new role.

The shareholder vote on 31 July is what makes the appointment official. Until then, Cesaroni's move to chief risk officer is proposed but not final. The financial results the day before will give investors and analysts a snapshot of the bank's performance to weigh alongside the leadership change.

Cesaroni's current role, Integrated Risk, involves looking at risk across the entire bank rather than one area, so stepping up to the top risk job is a promotion from within rather than hiring from outside. The gap between Čortan's departure in February and the July vote means the role has been filled on a temporary basis for about five months. ING's EGM notes trace the decision back to the October 2025 departure announcement.

For anyone who owns ING shares, lends to the bank, or simply banks with it, the two-day sequence matters. The Q2 results will be checked for how much the bank earned from lending, how much it made from fees, and how efficiently it is run. The vote the next day confirms who is ultimately responsible for the risk framework behind those numbers, and for the specific exposures, including defence, that sit within it.