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Vienna International Financial Services Industry News
Austrian Financial Market Authority Is Pleased With Whistle-Blowing System
In 2017 whistleblowers made 158 tip-offs regarding misconduct in the Austrian financial market. The FMA has been operating a special IT-based whistleblowing system since 1 February 2014 that allows the anonymous receipt of confidential information about possible instances of malpractice in supervised entities. FMA Executive Board: “Our whistle-blowing system is an important source of information for the FMA.”
April 20, 2018
Austria's Capital Market for SMEs on the Brink of a Renaissance
Finance Minister Hartwig Löger plans to revive the Austrian capital market for SMEs by making trading of bearer shares of Austrian companies on the Third Market possible again.
April 11, 2018
C-Quadrat: Yearly Financial Report 2017
C-Quadrat Investment AG is declaring the following financial reports below.
April 6, 2018
Money Laundering: RBI Is Fined EUR 2.7 Million
The Austrian Financial Market Authority (FMA) has imposed the highest fine ever imposed by the FMA, i.e. a fine of EUR 2.748 million against Raiffeisen Bank International AG.
April 1, 2018
Expat Advise: How Does the Austrian Tax and Social Security System Work?
If you are moving to Vienna as an expat or are already living here with employment income and want to find your way around the complicated Austrian tax and social security system, Vindobona recommends attending an interesting event organised by the Vienna Business Agency and Deloitte Austria.
March 22, 2018
RBI Doubles Net Profit, Pays Dividends Again and Returns to Growth Course
RBI - Raiffeisen Bank International has doubled its profit in 2017 and rewards shareholders. They have not received any dividends since 2013. The bank had to pursue a sharp austerity course, reduce international business volumes, close branches in Eastern Europe and stop dividend payments. Russia remains the most important source of income.
March 15, 2018
ATX: AT&S and FACC to Join, Agrana and Zumtobel to be Removed
The ATX index composition of the Vienna Stock Exchange has been reviewed on its quarterly basis. FACC AG will be joining ATX for the first time since it became exchange-listed. AT&S AG will rejoin. Agrana and Zumtobel will be removed. Decisions on additions and removals to the index are based on average daily trading volumes and the free float capitalization of companies.
March 9, 2018
Bawag Pays €110M for Separation from Austrian Post
Bawag presents its preliminary figures for 2017. The net profit will amount to 466.6 million euros (-1.4 percent). Due to profits, there will be dividend payments to shareholders. The long-term distribution partnership with Austrian Post is to be terminated.
February 28, 2018
How do Russian Politicians and Oligarchs Withdraw their Money from Austria?
The Russian money nobility has begun to repatriate large amounts of its western-hoarded money back to Russia in order to deprive it of access by Western authorities. The countries of origin are above all Switzerland, but also Austria and Great Britain. Sberbank, Russia's largest and state-owned bank, speaks of an atypically high capital inflow to Russia. Within a few weeks, a tripling of such repatriation transactions took place compared to the same period of the previous year. The sum is hundreds of millions of dollars. The average transfer amount has increased within a year by 50% to 3 million dollars. This meets with the Kremlin's desire to repatriate Russian assets.
February 22, 2018
C-Quadrat: Unexpected Good Performance in December
Due to the positive performance of several investment funds managed by asset management companies of the C-Quadrat Group, which reached new price highs, in December 2017 the C-Quadrat Group realized additional revenue from performance-related remuneration.
January 5, 2018
Western Balkans Countries Discussed Investment, Jobs and Integration in Vienna
The World Bank and the Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies (wiiw) held a high-level policy dialogue on ‘Investment, Jobs and Integration’ last week. Ministers and senior officials from the Western Balkans region as well as policy experts from international organisations and the business community gathered to discuss the challenges the region is currently facing, in particular the high unemployment rate, low international competitiveness, and lack of modern infrastructure.
July 8, 2016
Moody’s Downgrades Long-Term Credit Rating of Austria
Moody’s has downgraded the long-term credit rating of Austria, from "Aaa” to Aa1. In January 2012 rating agency Standard & Poors had reduced Austria’s rating from AAA to AA+, whereas in February 2015, Fitch did the same.
June 27, 2016
Closing of Visa Takeover Brings EUR 97 Million Pre-Tax Profit to RBI
The expected pretax profit from the cash payment of the transaction will be EUR 97 million. It should be booked under net income from financial investments in the second quarter of 2016. Visa Inc. had announced the takeover of Visa Europe Ltd. in November of 2015. The cash payment of this one-off effect will be split between Slovakia, Romania, Czech Republic, Poland, the RBI head office, Croatia, Bulgaria, Hungary and Zuno.
June 21, 2016
VSE and CEESEG: Heimo Scheuch to Serve as New Chairman of the Supervisory Board
Changes in the supervisory board of Wiener Börse AG and CEESEG AG have taken place and a new executive committee was elected. Heimo Scheuch, CEO of Wienerberger AG, will serve as Chairman of the Supervisory Board. Angelika Sommer-Hemetsberger, member of the Management Board of Oesterreichische Kontrollbank AG, was elected Vice-Chairwoman of the Supervisory Board.
June 15, 2016
Tax Payers to Finance AvW Bankruptcy after all?
Tax payers may have to finance the bankruptcy of Carinthian financial company AvW after all, Presse daily reports in its online issue. The damage is estimated at EUR 148 million (USD 168.2 million).
June 8, 2016
UniCredit Bank Austria Named Best Trade Finance Bank in Austria
US financial magazine Global Finance selected Bank Austria for the eighth time in a row "Best Trade Finance Bank" in Austria.
January 21, 2016
Robert Zadrazil Takes Over the Helm of Bank Austria from Willibald Cernko
After having been board member of Bank Austria for ten years, Robert Zadrazil (45) will now step it up and replace Willibald Cernko (59) who will step down as of 1 March 2016. The bank speaks of a generation change.
January 18, 2016
Central and Eastern European Forum in Vienna next Week
The Central and Eastern European Forum - organized by Euromoney - is taking place in Vienna next week. 1,000 top level policymakers, issuers, and commentators from the region will join local and international investors to help plan, debate and analyze the economic agenda for the region for the year ahead.
January 13, 2016
VSE: US Interest Rate Decision Likely to Increase Appeal of Austrian Stocks
The Vienna Stock Exchange can look back at a year of solid developments on the stock market in 2015. The uptrend in equity trading volumes has now been sustained for more than two years: trading volumes were up by 24.3%; the ATX gained 11.20%, and innovations in bond trading were the highlights of the year. Market capitalization on the Vienna Stock Exchange reached EUR 86.28 billion in December 2015. This was a gain of 7.86% over the year-end figure of 2014.
December 18, 2015
RBI Sells Slovenian Subsidiary to US Private Equity Firm Apollo
Raiffeisen Bank International AG (RBI) has reached an agreement to sell its Slovenian bank, Raiffeisen Banka d.d., to Biser Bidco, which is managed by an affiliate of Apollo Global Management, LLC. The purchase price has not been disclosed. The expected deconsolidation effect on RBI’s consolidated result will amount to minus EUR 49 million.
December 10, 2015
Large Securitisation Deal between EIB and UniCredit Leasing Austria
EIB participates in securitisation transaction of UniCredit Leasing Austria with EUR 230.9 mil. The European Investment Bank (EIB) will make available EUR 230.9 million to UniCredit Leasing Austria through the purchase of asset-backed securities (ABS).
November 24, 2015
Hungarian Central Bank Buys Austria's 68.8% Stake in Budapest Stock Exchange
Austrian shareholders CEESEG and OeKB sell their 68.8% stake in Budapest Stock Exchange to Hungarian Central Bank for €42m ($45m), the Hungarian central bank confirmed officially.
November 24, 2015
Bank Austria Sells Prominent Property "The Mall" to Morgan Stanley Consortium
UniCredit Bank Austria AG announces that the purchase agreement for the shopping centre The Mall at Wien Mitte was signed with Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing (MSREI), pending approval by the antitrust authorities.
October 22, 2015
RBI’s Russian Subsidiary Sells its Pension Fund Business
RBI’s Russian subsidiary (AO Raiffeisenbank) closed the sale of its pension fund business (ZAO NPF Raiffeisen) to the Russian BIN Group. The transaction will result in a one-off gain before tax of around EUR 87 million for RBI, which will be booked in the fourth quarter of 2015. It has been agreed that the parties will not disclose the price at which the transaction took place.
October 19, 2015
Steep Q3 Rise in Equity Trading Volumes on Vienna Stock Exchange
Despite the traditional sluggishness in summer months, trading volumes in equities rose steeply in Q3 2015 by 19.1%, climbing from EUR 11.41 billion (Q3 2014) to EUR 13.59 billion (Q3 2105).
October 7, 2015
PayLife Becomes SIX Payment Services
In September 2013, the Swiss financial services provider SIX acquired PayLife, the market leader for cashless payments in Austria, from the Austrian banks. With the acquisition and integration of PayLife SIX underlines its goal of driving international growth and its ambition to be among the leading European providers of card-based payments. Starting today, PayLife Bank GmbH is renamed SIX Payment Services ( Austria ) GmbH.
September 23, 2015
Erste Group Presents Net Profit of EUR 487.2 Million in H1 15
Erste Group closed the first half of 2015 with positive results, reflected in strong improvements in profitability, asset quality, lending and capital. The group reported a net profit of EUR 487.2 million in H1 2015, compared to a negative result of EUR -929.7 million in the similar period last year; all countries except Hungary made a positive contribution to this development. Total assets increased to EUR 197.5 billion, compared to EUR 196.3 billion at the end of 2014. This balance sheet growth reflects a 2.2% advance in net lending to customers compared to the end of 2014, to EUR 123.5 billion, supported by the 1.7% growth in loans to households, 2.0% to SMEs and 5.9% to large corporates.
August 7, 2015
Erste Bank Replaces Security Trading Platform Brokerjet with George
Erste Bank's Brokerjet service - that is tailored specifically toward the needs of online trading customers - will be discontinued as of the end of November. In the future the service will be offered via securities trading services George.
July 14, 2015
Euromoney Names UniCredit-Bank Best Bank in CEE
Euromoney has presented UniCredit with nine awards for excellence, including Best Bank in Central Eastern Europe, Best Debt House in Central Eastern Europe and Best Transaction Services House in Central Eastern Europe.
July 14, 2015
VSE's Operating Income Up 17% in 2014, CEESEG also Slightly Up
The Vienna Stock Exchange (VSE) and the CEE Stock Exchange Group report solid FY 2014 results. Vienna Stock Exchange's operating income is up 17% in 2014, mainly driven by the steadily increasing trading volume. Also, new members have been elected to the supervisory board.
June 23, 2015
Vienna Stock Exchange: ATX Upswing Drives Up Equity Trading in Q1
The Vienna Stock Exchange has seen the strongest monthly equity turnover since August 2011. The average monthly trading volume to date in 2015 is EUR 5.04 billion which represents a gain of 26.61% over the average monthly trading volume of the year 2014 (EUR 3.98 billion).
April 2, 2015
Südtiroler Sparkasse Suffers EUR 231.1 Mln Loss in 2014
Savings association Sparkasse's South Tyrol unit suffered an EUR 231.1 million (USD 253 million) loss in 2014, CEO Gerhard Brandstätter and his deputy Carlo Costa said in a press release.
March 27, 2015
Stock Exchange Index ATX five: Immofinanz Replaces RBI, Composition Unchanged
At a decision making index committee meeting the Vienna Stock Exchange reached a decision on changes to the leading Austrian index, ATX, as well as on further Austrian indices. In the ATX five Raiffeisen Bank International AG will be replaced by Immofinanz AG due to its higher market capitalization.
March 5, 2015
UniCredit Private Banking Receives Euromoney Awards
UniCredit Private Banking has been recognized for its services, winning 14 awards in different regional and local categories in Euromoney magazine´s Private Banking Survey 2015.
February 10, 2015
Erste Group Seales Agreement to Sale 15 Percent of Hungarian Unit
Erste Group has invited the Government of Hungary and the EBRD to invest in Erste Bank Hungary Zrt. by acquiring a minority stake of up to 15 per cent each. Negotiations are in progress and the completion of the transaction is expected within the next six months.
February 9, 2015
Geopolitical Developments have Negative Impact on VSE Performance
The Vienna Stock Exchange looks back at an eventful year 2014. A weak performance of the leading index, ATX, contrasted with numerous highlights such as large capital increases, the successful public offering of FACC AG, a record-year in terms of new corporate bonds listings and heigh liquidity, i.e. an increase in trading volumes and number of transactions.
January 22, 2015
"Teletrade" is not "Teletrader"
TeleTrade is an online broker providing access to trade across a range of financial markets. TeleTrade has recently opened an office at the Regus Business Center at Parkring 10 in Vienna's first district. According to the company's website, the TeleTrade Group has over 200 offices in 30 countries and more than 3000 employees.
January 20, 2015
Austria has EU-Wide Most Franc Loans
In absolute terms, Austria has the most franc foreign currency loans in the European Union.
January 19, 2015
EBRD Lends EUR 30 Mln Loan to Raiffeisen Leasing to support MSMEs in Romania
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is increasing the availability of financing to private businesses in Romania with a RON 132 million (€30 million equivalent) loan to the Bucharest-based Raiffeisen Leasing IFN S.A, a subsidiary of Austrian Raiffeisen Bank International AG (RBI).
January 15, 2015
Slovak Republic Issues 12-Year Eurobond Worth EUR 1.5 Billion
Slovakia’s first syndicated EUR transaction of the year attracted a total demand from more than 200 investors which reached almost EUR 5.5 billion.
January 15, 2015
BAWAG PSK Bank Sets-up London Branch Office
BAWAG PSK, the Cerberus and Golden Tree majority-owned Austrian bank, recently opened a branch office in London to help develop "its international business franchise", i.e. corporate finance, specialty finance and commercial real estate finance, Bawag's interim report Q3 2014 shows.
November 13, 2014
Who is Private Equity Investor Advent International?
Advent International is an American global private equity firm focused on buyouts of companies in Western and Central Europe, North America, Latin America and Asia. The firm focuses on international buyouts, growth and strategic restructuring in five core sectors. In 2008 the firm raised an additional €1 billion for investments in Central and Eastern Europe. Advent has acquired a number of companies in Central and Eastern Europe through its dedicated regional funds. These include Romanian Ceramica IASI, one of Romania’s leading ceramic bricks and clay roof tiles producers, Bolix, a leading Polish producer of construction chemicals, Dufa Deutek, Romania’s largest decorative paints producer, and LaborMed Pharma, which manufactures and distributes generic pharmaceuticals primarily for cardiovascular and central nervous system aliments, and now Hypo Group Alpe Adria's Balkan assets.
October 30, 2014
Axel Hummel Appointed CEO of Sberbank Europe
Sberbank Europe AG announces the appointment of Axel Hummel as its new CEO, following the resignation of Mark Arnold. The appointment is effective 22 October 2014, subject to regulatory approval. Sberbank Europe AG is based in Vienna.
October 27, 2014
Warsaw Stock Exchange not to Merge with Vienna Stock Exchange
For the time being plans for the merger of the Vienna and Warsaw stock exchanges have been postponed. The Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE) declared that it had decided to abandon plans for a merger with Vienna Stock Exchange (VSE).
September 24, 2014
European Startups in Vienna: Entering a New Age of Pioneering
From October 29th startups will compete for the attention of investors and companies in Vienna. The application for the Pioneers Challenge has just begun. Start-ups have no easy job to enthuse investors for their ideas. But Vienna offers one of the best ways to do just that: During the Pioneers Festival in late October young companies can secure the attention of potential donors and inspire other companies and media for their innovations.
September 18, 2014
Most Austrian Investment Funds Report Positive Results
In August Austrian investment funds improved their performance y/y, with most funds posting a positive result. Of the 1,599 funds operating on the market for at least one year some 1,522 reported a positive performance and only 77 reported a negative performance.
September 9, 2014
S&P Downgrades Erste, RZB, UniCredit, Affirms HYPO NOE, KA Finanz, Upgrades HYPO OO
S&P is downgrading three banks, affirming the ratings on two banks, upgrading one bank, and lowering various issue ratings on the banks' hybrid capital and guaranteed grandfathered debt.
August 13, 2014
Comment: Outlook of Vienna Stock Exchange
Manfred Sibrawa of BAWAG PSK INVEST GmbH comments on the expectation of the performance of the Vienna Stock Exchange until year end. Erste Bank and Raiffeisen Bank International, but also OMV, booked double-digit losses, while the Vienna Stock Exchange welcomed a new member, FACC. "All in all we saw a mixed development year-to-date, but assuming that we see a stabilization of the global situation we can expect the Vienna ATX to speed up and reduce the underperformance towards other established markets."
August 7, 2014
Bank Austria Posts Net Profit of EUR 776 Mln in H1 2014
Net profit rises by 34.3 per cent to EUR 776 million compared with the same period of the previous year.
August 6, 2014
VBAG Sold Private Equity Portfolio
Österreichische Volksbanken AG (VBAG) makes progress with the implementation of its restructuring program by selling a EUR 110 million portfolio of private equity fund investments and direct investments in German speaking countries and Eastern Europe.
July 31, 2014
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