ING exit deals blow to Government competition plans Jan Hommen, chief executive of ING, said that, while he was "proud" of the business the bank had built, the British market was "very competitive." The deal will also be seen as confirmation of new Barclays chief executive Antony Jenkins" move to increase the lender's focus on retail banking, though a source close to the bank said the deal pre-dated Mr Jenkins's August appointment to the top job. Analysts at Investec said the purchase was "another classic Chris Lucas deal," in reference to the bank's finance director. Buying ING Direct, which manages customer deposits totalling £10.9bn and has an outstanding mortgage book worth £5.6bn, will not greatly increase the size of Barclays' business. Before the deal, Barclays had a total UK retail deposit base of £114bn and a mortgage book of £110bn. ING Direct was launched in 2003 and the bank operates a series of similar operations in countries including Australia, France, Germany and Spain.