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Banking Industry
Bank Austria: Massive Case of Customer Data Abuse.
Bank Austria files a lawsuit on the abuse of consumer data as Austrian magazine “News” got hold of data of around 5,000 costumers
December 4, 2013
RZB Faces Severe Restructuring Measures
The Raiffeisen Zentralbank (RZB) is facing severe restructuring and downsizing measures as it has to cut the number of employees.
December 4, 2013
Austria: Insolvency of Hypo Group Still an Option
Both the center of government and the Austrian National Bank (OeNB) reject Hypo Group’s bankruptcy. However, insolvency options are currently being assessed by the Finance Ministry and the Federal Law Office.
December 4, 2013
UniCredit: Withdrawal from Hungary as Potential Option
UniCredit does not completely rule out a withdrawal from the Hungarian market in case further burdens will be imposed on banking institutes.
December 4, 2013
Bank of Albania Presses for Agreement with IMF
The Albanian economy from short-term adjustment toward long-term sustainable growth. Why Albania needs an agreement with the IMF.
December 4, 2013
Raiffeisen Bank among Top Three Banks in Romania
Top three banks with best reputation - „The bank of Romanians” is client-centered, honest and transparent.
December 3, 2013
Slovenia: LJSE Suspended Trading Bank Shares
According to the Stock Exchange "not all conditions for a fair, orderly and efficient trading in the securities are satisfied."
December 3, 2013
UniCredit Bank Ukraine and Ukrsotsbank to be Merged
CEE Division completes additional steps in business refocusing.
December 3, 2013
Austria: Government Rules Out Hypo Group’s Insolvency
Chancellor Faymann referred to incalculable economic and political consequential effects due to the liabilities assumed by Hypo Group Alpe Adria.
December 3, 2013
Bratusek: Slovenia Will Manage Bank Rescue
According to Prime Minister Bratusek, Slovenia will manage the bank rescue on its own.
December 3, 2013
Austria: Bawag to Pay back Participation Capital
The Austrian Bawag announced its plans about paying back a further tranche of the state capital participation.
December 2, 2013
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
CESEE: Slight Growth Acceleration, but Uncertainties Persist
The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies (wiiw) has published the economic forecast for the CESEE region today. The economic performance varies substantially from country to country.
November 28, 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
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
Germany Claims Key Positions at EU Banking Regulator
The German federal government claims one key position in the European banking regulator.
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
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
Poland: IMF Corrects Growth Forecast Upward
Growth forecasts for next year were increased by 0.3 percent by IMF.
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
Romania Faces Upgrade
Next year, Romanian sovereign bonds may be upgraded by Standard & Poor´s.
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