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Vienna International Banking Industry News
Read the latest headlines about developments in the international banking industry in Vienna and Austria
Bond Swap at Raiffeisen
RBI offers bond holders of RCB to swap their debenture bonds to promissory notes.
December 2, 2013
Bank Austria: Sales Proceeds for Kazakh Affiliate Dropped
Sales proceeds of Bank Austria’s Kazakh affiliate ATF Bank only came at € 294m which is significantly less than announced by the bank in the first half year.
December 2, 2013
Bosnia: NPLs Increasing Dramatically
Almost 15 percent of the total volume of loans in Bosnia are bad.
December 2, 2013
Raiffeisen Bank International Negotiates with Alfa Bank
Vienna-listed RBI wants to leave Ukraine. RBI´s subsidiary Bank Aval may be sold to Alfa Bank.
November 30, 2013
Sberbank: Lawsuit Against VBAG
The largest Russian banking group has filed a lawsuit against Austrian VBAG at the International Court of Arbitration.
November 29, 2013
Hungary: Economic Acceleration Takes Form
According to French BNP, the Hungarian economy starts to grow again. Nevertheless, the banking industry does not face better times yet.
November 29, 2013
Sevelda: „We Are Close to the Breaking Point“
In a guest comment published by the Austrian business magazine Format, CEO of Raiffeisen Bank International Karl Sevelda refers to the high burden for Austrian banks.
November 29, 2013
„We Can Exclude a Bankruptcy of Hypo Group”
Ewald Nowotny, governor of the Austrian National Bank (OeNB) and Klaus Liebscher, head of Hypo Group´s supervisory board argue that the nationalized bank will be downsized according to plan.
November 29, 2013
VBAG: No Interest Payments on Participation Capital Until 2016
The partly nationalized Austrian bank group VBAG faces further losses. As a result, VBAG will have to perform interest payments not before 2017.
November 28, 2013
Bank Austria: Drastic Job Cut
The austerity measures at Bank Austria take form. CEO Willibald Cernko refers to the bank taxes.
November 28, 2013
RBI Calls for Better SME Financing in Europe and CEE
RBI CEO Karl Sevelda calls for improvement of SME financing.
November 28, 2013
PwC: Turbulent Years for Banks
According to a study by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) the core capital of European banks need to be increased significantly.
November 28, 2013
Sberbank Strives for Organic Growth in CESEE
In 2012, the largest Russian bank took over VBAG´s sub-holding for the CESEE region. As Sberbank still has to invest a lot in the former subsidiary of Austrian VBAG, CEO German Gref is not perfectly satisfied with the acquisition.
November 27, 2013
RBI Faces Austerity Measures.
Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) does not take into consideration capital increase.
November 27, 2013
Bulgaria: More than Half of Citizens Would Not Take Out Bank Loan
According to a survey, almost 60 percent of Bulgarians would not take out a bank loan regardless of the terms.
November 27, 2013
ECB Considers Restricting Credits
The ECB takes the option of restricting banking to industrial enterprises only into consideration.
November 27, 2013
EU Financial Transaction Tax to Become a Flop?
Experts do not expect the financial transaction tax to become effective next year.
November 27, 2013
Croatia: HNB Pushes Credits
According to reports by Reuters, the Croatian National Bank (HNB) intends to issue HRK 4bn (US-$ 707m) to support credits. Further details will be published by the Central Bank later this week.
November 27, 2013
RBI: Profits Decline by More than Half
Raiffeisen Bank International with consolidated profit of € 411 million in the first three quarters 2013.
November 27, 2013
Hungary: Monetary Policy Eases Further
Today, Hungary´s National Bank (MNB) has cut the two-week deposit rate to 3.2% from 3.4%. The government is optimistic that the monetary easing will help Hungary´s economy.
November 26, 2013
CESEE: Austrian Banks Face New Challenges
For Austrian banks, the assessment by the ECB may bring new difficulties. Non-performing loans in CESEE are said to be higher than officially known.
November 26, 2013
New Austerity Measures for Bank Austria
UniCredit´s Austrian subsidiary and biggest Austrian bank faces job cuts and structural measures again.
November 26, 2013
Dispute about NLB Reignites between Slovenia and Croatia
Damaged savers of NLB filed lawsuit against the bank at the European Court for Human Rights.
November 26, 2013
Czech Republic: CNB Aquires Foreign Currencies
During monetary interventions CNB has purchased foreign currencies in the amoung of CZK 200bn.
November 26, 2013
Hypo Investigations Could Last Several More Years
Yesterday the first court proceeding at the Regional Higher Court in Munich started. Investigations in Austria will take up to four years.
November 26, 2013
Hungary. Forex Loans Probed by Supreme Court
Due to the upcoming elections in 2014, Hungary´s government puts pressure on the Supreme Court.
November 25, 2013
ECB Does Not See Danger of Deflation
Benoit Coeure, member of ECB’s supervisory board, does not see the danger of deflation in Europe.
November 25, 2013
BayernLB Lodges Claim of Almost € 5bn
The value in dispute in the legal discussions between German BayernLB and fromer affiliate Hypo Group Alpe Adria runs up to almost € 5bn.
November 25, 2013
Slovenia: Stress Tests Result Published on December 13
Bostjan Jazbec, governor of the Slovenian National Bank (SNB), is optimistic that no Slovenian bank will have to be liquidated.
November 23, 2013
Czech Demand for Housing Loans Still Grows
While demand for consumer loans was down, demand for housing loans is still on the rise. In total, loan growth decelerates.
November 23, 2013
Bawag Sells Headquarter Building
In order to improve its equity base, the Austrian banking group sells the headquarter building in Vienna´s City.
November 23, 2013
Slovenia: Economic Growth Expected to Speed up Next Year
Economic growth is expected to accelerate next year.
November 22, 2013
Austria:Kommunalkredit Managers Accused of Breach of Trust
Four former managers of nationalized Kommunalkredit (KA) are accused of breach of trust and violating the Stock Corporation Act by the Public Prosecutor's Office against Economy and Corruption (WKStA) at the Regional Court in Vienna.
November 22, 2013
Czech Republic: CNB Facing Investigations
Czech Senator Dryml ordered the head of counter-intelligence service (BIS) Jiri Lang to initiate investigations against the Czech National Bank (CNB).
November 22, 2013
Croatia: Amendmends to Cosumer Credit Law
Interest rates on housing loans pegged to Swiss Franc dropped by 30 percent.
November 22, 2013
Fresh Money for Hypo Group Alpe Adria
The nationalized Austrian bank receives € 1.05bn from the Austrian Ministry of Finance.
November 22, 2013
Eurozone: Nouy New Manager of ECB’s Banking Suvervision
Daniele Nouy will become the new head of the ECB’s banking supervision.
November 21, 2013
EBRD: Eastern Europe “Stuck in Transition“
The European Bank for Restructuring and Development (EBRD) warned that Eastern Europe and the countries of the former Sovjet Union could remain “stuck in transition”, which is the titel of the current report.
November 21, 2013
Austria: Cernko Favors Participation in Bad Bank
CEO of Bank Austria Willibald Cernko is in favor of Austrian banks participating in a bad bank for Hypo Group Alpe Adria.
November 21, 2013
Slovenia: Share of NPLs Increasing Dangerously
The share of non-performing loans (NPL) in the Slovenian banking sector has increased to 17.4 percent. Losses of the country’s financial institutes are significantly worse on a year-on-year comparison.
November 21, 2013
Czech National Bank Not Intending Further Forex Interventions
According to Miroslav Singer, governor of the Czech National Bank, the authority is not planning on taking further measures at the forex market to weaken the Czech Crown (CZK).
November 21, 2013
RBI: Fresh Money for Slovenian Subsidiary
Raiffeisen Bank International, the third biggest lender in CESEE, injects € 10m into the Slovenian subsidiary.
November 21, 2013
Hungary: Banks Penalized for Lobbying
The Hungarian competition authority GVH has imposed a penalty running in the millions on domestic and foreign banks.
November 20, 2013
Albania: Governor Calls For Measures for Balanced Financial System
Financial institutes in Albania are struggling with a weak demand in credits as the country has been affected by the economic and financial crisis.
November 20, 2013
Hypo Group: Investors Claim Refunds
A group of aggrieved investors in Hypo Group Alpe Adria files claims for damages. These so-called small investors provided amounts from € 30,000 to € 300,000 and feel disadvantaged compared to bigger investors.
November 20, 2013
Raiffeisen Bank International: Sale of Hungarian Affiliate No Taboo Anymore
As reported by Vindobona, Vienna-listed RBI is examining offers for the Hungarian subsidiary. For RBI, Hungary is the biggest loss-maker.
November 20, 2013
PKO to Take over Nordea Bank Polska
The biggest Polish Bank PKO Bank Polski will submit an offer to the minority shareholder of Nordea Bank Polska
November 19, 2013
Capital Shortfall at European Banks
According to Boston Consulting Group, European Banks still have much work to do.
November 19, 2013
Romania: Banks Keep Risk Margins Unchanged
In spite of the recent cut in the key rate to an all-time low of four percent the financial institutes will not loosen risk policies.
November 19, 2013
RBI Examines Sale Offers in Hungary
Apart from the withdrawal from Ukraine, Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) considers an exit from Hungary.
November 19, 2013
