Julius Baer Group AG expects an outcome soon on the sale of ING Group NV's Swiss private banking assets and is hopeful the terms of the sale are in its favor, Baer's chief executive said on Monday.

In an interview at the Reuters Global Wealth Management Summit in Geneva, Boris Collardi declined to comment on whether Julius Baer is close to a deal to buy the ING assets.

Sources close to the deal have indicated it is the front runner and a deal could come as soon as this week.

I think we will know very soon more, Collardi said. I'm hopeful if terms are in the direction we would like.

From the beginning of the ING asset sale, Baer has been seen as a front runner for some or all of the private banking assets on offer. The sources said last week Baer was no longer in the running for ING's Asian private banking assets because of regulatory issues.

HSBC said on Monday it had looked at ING's private banking units in Asia and Switzerland, describing the proposed sale by the Dutch bank as a rare opportunity in Asia.

It was the first time HSBC publicly confirmed it had eyed ING's private banking assets, whose sale is the most significant deal in the wealth management industry since the onset of the financial crisis.

(Reporting by Ben Berkowitz; Editing by David Holmes)

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