Dutch financial services group ING expects final bids for its Asian and Swiss private banking assets within the latter part of the next week, sources familiar with the sale said yesterday, Reuters reports.

The sources also indicated the list of bidders has narrowed slightly from the first round of bidding. An ING spokesman declined to comment.

Sources told the news service that ING aims to strike a sale deal in September. Other sources have pegged the price target around $1 billion and identified Switzerland's Julius Baer as a strong contender.

The move comes at a time when financial services groups have been spinning off asset management and other divisions in a bid to raise cash and bolster their balance sheets. For example, UK-listed Royal Bank of Scotland, owner of Coutts, the UK private bank, has sold off a number of its Asian businesses. Lloyds Banking Group recently agreed to sell its asset manager, Insight Investment.