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        Vienna International Banking Industry News
Read the latest headlines about developments in the international banking industry in Vienna and Austria
          
    
        Austrian Banks React to ECB’s Interest Rate Decision
      
      The Austria banks quickly passed on the interest rate hike to their customers. Christoph Leitl regards the decision as an impediment for budgetary consolidation.
                                  July 8, 2011                                        
    
    
        European Stress Test Results to Be Published on July 15
      
      The test performance of 91 participating banks will be available next week. According to Moody’s, Austrian Volksbanken AG is at risk of failing the test.
                                  July 8, 2011                                        
    
    
        OTP Bank Shows Interest in Volksbank International
      
      The Austrian Volksbanken AG found a second potential buyer for its Eastern European subsidiary. The Hungarian OTP bank wants to expand into the markets where VBI has a presence.
                                  July 7, 2011                                        
    
    
        Sale of VBI to Be Signed in July
      
      The Austrian Volksbanken Group and Sberbank have come close to an agreement on the sale of the Eastern European bank. The transaction price will be € 700m.
                                  July 5, 2011                                        
    
    
        RBI Hit by Bankruptcy of Saudi Arabian Company
      
      The Austrian bank has problems with its credit business in Saudi Arabia. “An amount in the low hundreds of millions” is at risk.
                                  July 4, 2011                                        
    
    
        Successful Start for RBI’s Direct Bank Zuno in Slovakia
      
      18,000 Slovak customers have deposited a total amount of € 125m in the first six months since the bank entered the market in December 2010.
                                  June 30, 2011                                        
    
    
        RBI: Acquisition of Polbank Stake Advancing
      
      The Austrian bank has received anti-trust approval of the deal. Closing and operational merger are expected in Q4/2011 or Q1/2012.
                                  June 30, 2011                                        
    
    
        RLB OÖ to Sell Its Stake in Polytec
      
      The Upper Austrian regional bank will sell its shares in the component supplier for approximately € 34m.
                                  June 29, 2011                                        
    
    
        Volksbanken Group to Sell Stake in RZB
      
      Österreichische Volksbanken-AG Group (VBAG) will sell its shares in Raiffeisen Zentralbank for almost € 500m. The redemption of state capital and the sale of VBI have been delayed.
                                  June 28, 2011                                        
    
    
        Profit Situation of Austrian Banks Improved Significantly
      
      The banks recorded a positive development in the first quarter. However, net profits of the full year will fall as a result of the newly introduced bank tax.
                                  June 27, 2011                                        
    
    
        Erste Group: Delayed Redemption of State Capital
      
      The Austrian bank will not repay the € 1.2bn of participation capital before the end of the month, probably due to the ongoing stress test.
                                  June 24, 2011                                        
    
    
        Austrian Financial Sector Stable – Remaining Challenges in Particular Business Segments
      
      Stress test results show Austria’s banks to be more resistant to risks than in 2010 – Boosting equity remains on the agenda nevertheless.
                                  June 21, 2011                                        
    
    
        Hypo Group: End of the First Round in the Bidding Process
      
      Today, Friday, was the closing date for the submission of tenders for Hypo Group’s Austrian business. The sale process is expected to take several months.
                                  June 17, 2011                                        
    
    
        Atrium and Meinl Bank Agree to Stop All Legal Proceedings
      
      The American-Israeli real estate fund and the Austrian bank reached a settlement agreement on the dismissal of all claims between them.
                                  June 17, 2011                                        
    
    
        Raiffeisen Expanding Its M&A Business in Russia
      
      The Austrian bank group is planning a joint venture between RBI and RIAG in order to put the investment banking in Moscow on a new footing.
                                  June 16, 2011                                        
    
    
        Bawag-CEO: “No Exit of Cerberus in 2012”
      
      After five years, a sale of the Austrian bank would become possible next year. The shoe retailer Stiefelkönig will be sold this summer.
                                  June 15, 2011                                        
    
    
        Stagnating Level of New Bank Lending
      
      Loan development in the first quarter: increase in long-term lending, but decline in total corporate lending volume.
                                  June 10, 2011                                        
    
    
        RBI Could Raise More Than € 3bn
      
      The Austrian bank prepares for issuing up to 97.75 million new shares. The company has not yet set a timetable for redemption of capital injected by the state.
                                  June 8, 2011                                        
    
    
        Bankers' Bonuses Back to Pre-Crisis Level
      
      Bonus payments of Austrian banks have recovered from the effects of the financial crisis. Rules for the payout have become stricter.
                                  June 7, 2011                                        
    
    
        Stable PIGS-Exposure of Austrian Banks
      
      The last quarter of 2010 has brought only minor changes in the total amount of lending to the four countries in southern Europe by Austrian banks.
                                  June 6, 2011                                        
    
    
        Raiffeisen Not Interested in Hypo
      
      The Austrian bank group is currently expanding in Poland but it is not going to bid for Hypo Alpe Adria as an acquisition “would not make sense”.
                                  June 6, 2011                                        
    
    
        Charges against Former Board Members of BayernLB
      
      Accusations relating to the acquisition of the Austrian Hypo Group: breach of duty, embezzlement of bank funds.
                                  June 3, 2011                                        
    
    
        UniCredit and Raiffeisen Seek to Broker Bulgaria's EVN Stake Sale
      
      Bulgaria is going to sell its minority stake in an electricity distributor operated by the Austrian energy company.
                                  June 3, 2011                                        
    
    
        Hypo Alpe Adria to Sell its Italian Subsidiary
      
      The Carinthian bank intends to divest its operations in the neighboring country. The subsidiary achieved a profit of € 10.82m in 2010.
                                  June 1, 2011                                        
    
    
        Sberbank Targeting RBI
      
      The Russian bank intends to expand its business to Kazakhstan and the Baltic countries. Both companies denied speculations about a potential capital injection.
                                  May 30, 2011                                        
    
    
        RBI’s Results Above Expectations
      
      The Austrian bank’s consolidated profit fell by 19.1% to € 270m, while analysts expected a decline to only € 253m. Net provisioning for impairment losses went down by 35.9%.
                                  May 26, 2011                                        
    
    
        Fitch Upgrades Individual Ratings of Austrian Banks
      
      The “A” rating of the big Austrian banks has been confirmed. The individual rating of Erste, RBI and Bank Austria was upgraded.
                                  May 25, 2011                                        
    
    
        Cheuvreux Closing Its Office in Vienna
      
      The French investment bank is closing down its office in Vienna after three years. This has been confirmed by analyst Alfred Reisenberger.
                                  May 20, 2011                                        
    
    
        Erste CEO Aims to Repay State Capital Before End-June
      
      The Austrian bank is negotiating the terms of refunding € 1.2bn for which it currently pays 8% interest per year.
                                  May 19, 2011                                        
    
    
        ÖVAG: Strong Provisional Results for Q1 2011
      
      Österreichische Volksbanken-AG Group (VBAG) expects a quarterly result of € 32m. The AGM concludes the combination of VBAG and Investkredit.
                                  May 19, 2011                                        
    
    
        Bank Austria Starts the Year with Net Profit of € 341m
      
      Operating profit up by 8 per cent to € 851 m compared with Q1 2010, driven by strong revenue trend in commercial banking business and flat cost development
                                  May 14, 2011                                        
    
    
        Expansion Plans at Erste Group and Raiffeisen
      
      RBI is drawn increasingly to the Czech Republic, while the Erste Group focuses on the Polish banking market.
                                  May 13, 2011                                        
    
    
        Inspections at German Subsidiary of voestalpine AG
      
      Inspections by German Federal Cartel office at voestalpine Klöckner Bahntechnik GmbH.
                                  May 11, 2011                                        
    
    
        Radovan Jelasity appointed CEO of Erste Bank Hungary
      
      Radovan Jelasity (43) will join Erste Bank Hungary as of 1 June 2011. Subsequent to the approval of the respective Hungarian authorities, he will be appointed Chief Executive Officer (CEO).
                                  May 10, 2011                                        
    
    
        UniCredit Leasing Still Number 1 in Austria's Leasing Market
      
      With an increase of 43 per cent in the new business volume to €763m and a market share of 13.3 per cent, UniCredit is the clear market leader in Austria in 2010 again
                                  May 10, 2011                                        
    
    
        RBI Joint Bookrunner for € 1.75bn Bond
      
      The bond, which is issued by Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, is the second largest EUR-denominated senior unsecured issue by an Italian bank in 2011
                                  May 10, 2011                                        
    
    
        Raiffeisen International Bank Intends to Get Further Involved in Poland
      
      After the purchase of the Polbank in February, the Austrian RBI seems to be interested now in the Polish DZ Bank. Its chances are however considered to be low.
                                  May 10, 2011                                        
    
    
        Contradictions Regarding Expenditure for Bank Package
      
      According to Eurostat, € 1.4bn more were spent on bank assistance than the corresponding revenues. The Ministry of Finance contradicts this.
                                  May 7, 2011                                        
    
    
        ÖVAG in the Black Again
      
      The central institution of the Austrian Volksbanken was able to achieve a profit of € 67.6m in 2010 after losses for € 24.5m reported in 2009.
                                  May 6, 2011                                        
    
    
        Erste Group Launches Rising Markets Indices
      
      Erste Group launches Rising Markets Indices for bonds and equities focusing on high-opportunity countries. Country selection based on criteria such as GDP growth, population growth, anti-corruption measures and standard of living.
                                  May 3, 2011                                        
    
    
        Strong Earnings Growth for Hypo Steiermark
      
      The operating profit of Hypo Steiermark rose to 21.5 million euro, more than doubling the previous year’s result.
                                  April 30, 2011                                        
    
    
        Raiffeisen Postpones Stock Exchange Plans
      
      The banking group has to postpone for two or three years the IPOs of the agricultural holdings NÖM and LLI planned for 2011.
                                  April 29, 2011                                        
    
    
        Erste Group Reports Small Profit Increase
      
      Erste Group increases Q1 2011 net profit to € 260.6 m on lower risk costs, despite negative impact from banking taxes.
                                  April 28, 2011                                        
    
    
        Decline in Profits for Wiener Privatbank
      
      The profits of the Privatbank fell by 34% in 2010. The bank reported an equity ratio of 48% on the 2010 balance sheet date (31 December 2009: 44%).
                                  April 28, 2011                                        
    
    
        Lending Behavior of Banks Remains Stable
      
      The credit policy of Austrian banks remained stable for the third year running in the first quarter of 2011 and it is also expected to remain unchanged in the second quarter of 2011.
                                  April 28, 2011                                        
    
    
        Erste Group: Slight Increase in Profits Expected
      
      UniCredit and RCB expect a slight rise in profits for Erste Group, despite bank taxes in Austria and Hungary.
                                  April 27, 2011                                        
    
    
        Hypo Tirol Continues Restructuring Process
      
      The Supervisory Board of the Austrian regional bank appoints two new board members. Furthermore, withdrawal from Germany and Switzerland is to take place.
                                  April 27, 2011                                        
    
    
        RCM - Raiffeisen Capital Management Company grew in 2010
      
      Despite the international debt crisis and the repeated fears of a recession, money flowed back into the investment company last year.
                                  April 23, 2011                                        
    
    
        aws: Willingness to Invest in Austria’s Manufacturing Industry Grows
      
      The investment projects promoted from January to March 2011 were larger and more ambitious than one year ago.
                                  April 22, 2011                                        
    
    
        Erste Group Wins Lawsuit in Sweden
      
      In a legal dispute over shares in a Swedish bank worth € 225m, the position of the Austrian Erste Group was able to prevail.
                                  April 21, 2011                                        
    
      
    