Vienna International Banking Industry News

Read the latest headlines about developments in the international banking industry in Vienna and Austria

Hypo Group Redeems Loan

Even though the Austrian nationalized Hypo Group urgently needs state aids to get by bondholders will be compensated for their investments.

March 17, 2014

Austria: Carinthia Forced to Pay for Hypo Group

Finance Minister Michael Spindelegger announced wanting to include the federal province of Carinthia to participate in the downsizing costs for ailing bank Hypo Group Alpe Adria. Austerity measures are “inevitable”.

March 17, 2014

Belka: Poland Should Not Haste into Eurozone

Marek Belka, Governor of the National Bank of Poland (NBP), said that the country did not have to haste to become a member of the European single currency union.

March 17, 2014

Austria: Spindelegger Puts Pressure on BayernLB

In the dispute with BayernLB, former parent company of problem bank Hypo Group Alpe Adria, Finance Minister Michael Spindelegger calls for a tougher approach.

March 17, 2014

Austria: Spindelegger Demands Valid Figures by Hypo Group

Finance Minister Michael Spindelegger demands valid figures from Hypo Group Alpe Adria before any further capital injections will be made by the Austrian state.

March 15, 2014

Austria: Delay in RBI Paying Back State Capital

Austrian Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) will take longer than planned to pay back state capital.

March 15, 2014

DiTech: Insolvency Postponed

Heavily affected computer equipement trader DiTech has to postpone filing for insolvency proceedings, which was planned today at the Commercial Court in Vienna.

March 14, 2014

Slovenia: Banking Sector Still Prone to Risks

The Slovenian banking sector is still prone to risks as the number of non-performing loans was not reduced substantially.

March 14, 2014

Austria: IV Welcomes Government‘s Decision on Hypo

According to Kapsch, president of IV, Hypo Group’s insolvency would have meant uncertainty and damages to the reputation of the business location Austria.

March 14, 2014

Hypo Group: Decision Has Finally Been Made

The government has finally made a decision. Ailing Hypo Group Alpe Adria will be downsized through a private bad bank.

March 14, 2014

Austria/SEE: Crucial Days for Hypo Group’s Future

Today the supervisory board of ailing Hypo Group is gathering to determine the financial gap of Hypo Group and the amount required to complete the balance sheets for 2013. Moreover, a decision about the SEE network will have to be made.

March 14, 2014

CEE: Investments to Boost Economic Growth

In the coming two years economic growth in Eastern Europe is expected to accelerate to an average of two to three percent of GDP triggered by a boost in investments.

March 13, 2014

Poland: “Time for Belt-Tightening”

Poland is required to cut the deficit in the public finance sector.

March 13, 2014

Austria: Bawag to Pay Back State Capital

Bawag is expected to pay back the entire public participation captial tomorrow. The assets are urgently required for recapitalizing Austrian problem bank Hypo Group.

March 13, 2014

Austria: Who Will Pay for Hypo Group?

In the dispute around who is to pay for problem bank Hypo Group Alpe Adria Chancellor Werner Faymann intends to negotiate with the Austrian provinces about a contribution to the bank levy.

March 13, 2014

RBI Rejects Rumors of Delayed Pay-Back of State Aids

RBI is expected to pay back € 1.75bn in public state aids.

March 12, 2014

Serbia: “Reforms Are Social Responsibility”

According to economic advisor and former director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Serbia’s efforts to improve state finances and push through with reforms, was visible.

March 12, 2014

Poland: Bank Pekao with Ambitious Plans

Polish lender Bank Pekao intends to reduce costs and risks, and raise the number of clients by around one million until 2020.

March 12, 2014

Hypo Group: Insolvency Still an Option?

The group of international advisors appointed by the Austrian government seems to have come to a different conclusion than the task force of Hypo Group Alpe Adria.

March 12, 2014

Poland: Changes in Monetary Policy to Come Gradually

Polish macroeconomic conditions support a stabilization of monetary policy, according to Anna Zielinska-Glebocka, member of the Monetary Policy Council.

March 12, 2014

Bank Austria to Focus on Growth Markets in the Future

Because of the high value of write-offs Bank Austria, CEE affiliate of Italian UniCredit, had to face record losses amounting to € 1.6bn. CEO Willibald Cernko, however, does not consider the bank having made any mistakes in the past.

March 12, 2014

Hypo Group: Losses Expected to Run into Billions

Hypo Group Alpe Adria is expected to reveal losses of around € 2bn in the balance sheet for the business year 2013. Up to now, losses in the amount of € 1.3bn were expected.

March 12, 2014

Task Force: Time Is Running out for Hypo Group

The final report by the task force of problem bank Hypo Group Alpe Adria calls upon the Austrian government to make a decision about the downsizing until mid-March.

March 11, 2014

Poland: Economic Growth to Accelerate

According to the latest estimates of the Polish National Bank (NBP), the annual economic recovery could accelerate to 3.7 percent in the period from 2014 to 2016.

March 11, 2014

Losses Running into the Billions for Bank Austria

Bank Austria’s results for the 2013 financial year.

March 11, 2014

Faymann: Provinces to Participate in Hypo’s Downsizing Costs

Chancellor Werner Faymann announced that the provinces will have to make a financial contribution to the downsizing costs of Hypo Group. He is in favor of using the provincial share of the bank levy.

March 11, 2014

Austria: Banking Secret for Foreigners to be Abolished Forever

From 2017 on, the banking secret for non-Austrian residents will be abolished completely.

March 11, 2014

Poland: PKO BP to Sell Parts of Consumer Loan Portfolio

This year, the largest lender in Poland intends to sell a part of its consumer loan portfolio in the amount of PLN 2.3bn to 2.5bn.

March 11, 2014

Austria: Hypo Group Disaster with Exorbitant Costs

The extent of the disaster of Austrian problem bank Hypo Group Alpe Adria only starts to unfold bit by bit. A further capital injection of € 750m is needed only for the ailing bank to complete its balance sheets.

March 11, 2014

Austria: Looming Real Estate Bubble in Vienna

While the official opinion is that there are dangerous price tendencies, some experts warn of the danger of a real estate bubble in the Austrian capital.

March 11, 2014

Czech Republic: Inflation below Forecast

Inflation in February in the Czech Republic was below the Czech National Bank’s (CNB) forecast.

March 10, 2014

EUSD: Austria “Ready to Agree“

Despite earlier statements to the contrary, Austria could now agree to the extension of the European Saving’s Directive (EUSD) during tomorrow’s ECOFIN meeting in Brussels.

March 10, 2014

Poland: Share of Impaired Loans Increasing

The number of impaired loans in the non-financial sector keeps on increasing.

March 10, 2014

Hypo Group: Further State Aid Necessary This Year

Finance Minister Spindelegger fears that nationalized problem bank Hypo Group Alpe Adria will require further state aids for its downsizing still within this year.

March 10, 2014

Polish Currency Still Affected by Ukrainian Crisis

The Polish Zloty continues to be unstable in the light of the political crisis in Crimea.

March 10, 2014

Austrian Bank Secret Remains Until 2017

Austrian Finance Minister Spindelegger will present proposals for amendments of the EUSD tomorrow.

March 10, 2014

Austria: Painful Austerity Measures Ahead

The Austrian public debt level grows massively. The disaster of the nationalized Balkan lender Hypo Group Alpe Adria is not the only reason for the unfavorable situation.

March 10, 2014

Austria: Spindelegger Still Does Not Exclude Hypo’s Bankruptcy

In an interview with daily “Österreich” Finance Minister Michael Spindelegger announced his intention of very carefull examining the task force’s final report about ailing bank Hypo Group.

March 8, 2014

Austria: State Aids for Banks Almost Exhausted

The financial framework for the banking aid for Hypo Group Alpe Adria is almost exhausted. So far the federal state of Austria has spent up to € 6.2bn.

March 8, 2014

Austria: Hypo Group’s Final Report Eagerly Awaited

The eagerly awaited final report of Hypo Group’s task force is supposed to be presented to the government this weekend.

March 8, 2014

S&P: Hypo Group Bankruptcy Would Trigger Downgrade in Austrian Banking Sector

In case of a bankruptcy of the nationalized bank Hypo Group Alpe Adria, the three largest Austrian banks Erste Group, Bank Austria and Raiffeisen Zentralbank might be downgraded by one or two notches.

March 8, 2014

Austria: Opposition Still Hopes for Government to Come Around

NEOS offer the government the chair for the parliamentary investigation committee with regard to the nationalization of ailing Hypo Group Alpe Adria and its former parent company BayernLB.

March 7, 2014

Austria: “Taxpayers Have to Bleed for Hypo Group“

Franz Schellhorn, head of think tank Agenda Austria, told “Handelsblatt” in an interview that having delayed the issue of Hypo Group was a fatal mistake by the Austrian government. He points out the consequences of the disaster.

March 7, 2014

Hungary: OTP Bank’s Profits Vanished by Provisions and Taxes

A decrease on the operating profit, increasing risk provisions and taxes drained almost all profits made in the fourth quarter last year.

March 7, 2014

Austria: Banking Supervision Reveals Deficiencies

An intern test report of the Austrian National Bank (OeNB) and the Financial Market Authority (FMA) reveals insufficiencies in the documentation of the banking supervision.

March 7, 2014

Moody’s Raises Outlook on Austrian Banks

Rating agency Moody’s has raised the outlook on five Austrian Banks.

March 7, 2014

Slovenia: Commissioner Calls for Reforms and Further Privatizations

EU Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs Olli Rehn said that Slovenia had to continue to push forward with further privatizations and economic reforms.

March 6, 2014

Poland: Rabobank Polska Gives up BGZ

Dutch financial institute Rabobank wants to get rid of BGZ.

March 6, 2014

Czech Republic: Economic Growth Speeding up

In the last quarter in 2013 the Czech economy grew faster than anticipated and even outdid all other EU member countries.

March 6, 2014

Austria: Opposition against “Council of Whitewashing“

The Austrian opposition, the Green Party foremost, is putting more pressure on the government to create a parliamentary investigation committee for problem bank Hypo Group Alpe Adria.

March 6, 2014