Capital Markets

ÖBAG: Attorney Edith Hlawati to Succeed Thomas Schmid

The Supervisory Board of Österreichische Beteiligungs AG (ÖBAG) has appointed the internationally recognized business lawyer Dr. Edith Hlawati as the new Chief Executive Officer of ÖBAG. She will succeed Thomas Schmid and take over the management of the state holding on 1 February 2022. Learn more about her and the selection process.

August 30, 2021

Investment Agreement with China Opens Doors

The European Union and China have agreed on a joint investment agreement. The core elements of the "Comprehensive Agreement on Investment" (CAI) include better market access, sustainability and a level playing field for European and Chinese companies. Considering the fact that China will be the biggest economy of the world in the near future, the agreement opens doors to a huge market.

December 30, 2020

Hahn: European Commission Is Entering Top League of Global Financial Markets

With the issuing of social bonds worth EUR 17 billion, the European Commission tries to safeguard jobs and prevent the economy from collapsing in its member countries. Commission President von der Leyen as well as Austrian EU Budget Commissioner Hahn are pleased by this important step.

October 22, 2020

Financial Assets of Austrians Back at Record Level After Slump

Austrians have never been richer than today. Private financial assets have recovered and improved after a significant decline in the first quarter of 2020 due to Covid-19.

August 25, 2020

Facilitated Stock Exchange Access for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises at the VSE

As a result of an amendment to the Austrian Stock Corporation Act (Aktiengesetz), as of 21 January 2019 it will again be possible for small and medium-sized enterprises and growth companies registered in Austria in the legal form of a stock corporation (AG) with small free float to gain access to the Vienna Stock Exchange via the newly created market segments "direct market plus" and "direct market".

October 19, 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

RBI Gets Rid of Public Shareholder

After tough negotiations with the Austrian financial market supervision, the Vienna-listed CESEE lender Raiffeisen Bank International repays about the half of the participation capital.

April 25, 2014

Austrian Households Hold Financial Assets Worth € 500bn

Last year, financial assets grew by 1.4% in nominal terms. New debts grew by 0.5% only.

April 24, 2014

Serbia: Key Rate Kept Unchanged.

The NBS (National Bank of Serbia) decided to keep the policy rate unchanged as there is no threat of inflation.

April 22, 2014

Czech Republic: Interest on Mortgage Loans Dropped

Interest ratest on mortgage loans dropped to a record low to 2.93 percent last month.

April 18, 2014

Hypo Group: Heavy Burden for Austrian Fiscal Position

The Austrian National Bank, however, expects the structural medium-term budgetary objectives to be achievable.

April 7, 2014

ECB Puts Pressure on Hypo Group

The distressed Austrian nationalized lender has no access to the Eurosystem monetary policy credit instruments. About ten potential buyers might be interested in the Balkan lender.

April 5, 2014

Hungary Receives € 10bn Loan from Russia

Hungary´s government has signed a loan agreement with Russia. Budapest wants to finance the enlargement of the Paks nuclear power plant.

April 2, 2014

CEE: Economy Could Become More Vulnerable to Crimea Crisis

If the political crisis in Crimea aggravates negative effects in the economy could soon become evident.

April 2, 2014

Austrian RBI Under Pressure

The Austrian National Bank (OeNB) and the Austrian Financial Market Authority (FMA) want Raiffeisen Bank International, the second-biggest lender in CESEE, not to repay the participation capital.

April 2, 2014

Austria: VBAG Downgraded to Junk Status

Moody´s has lowered VBAG´s rating. According to the rating agency, the partly nationalized Austrian bank has no investment grade anymore.

March 29, 2014

Austria: Reform Steps Very Modest

Austria, along with Germany and Switzerland, hardly put any economic reforms into realization. This is the conclusion of the annual “reform barometer” for the three countries.

March 20, 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

Poland: Share of Impaired Loans Increasing

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

March 10, 2014

Threat of Bankruptcy: Moody´s Cuts Hypo Group Alpe Adria´s Rating

The U.S. rating agency downgrades the rating of the Austrian nationalized lender by four notches. Moody´s referred to the uncertainty and the vague statements of the Austrian government.

February 15, 2014 · Updated: February 15, 2014; 18:47

Dramatic Capital Outflow in CESEE

The countries of Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe suffer from the dependence on foreign investments. Despite the economic recovery, FDIs are falling persistently.

February 15, 2014

RBI Raises Another € 500m

After the capital increase, the Vienna-listed lender has raised capital in the amount of € 500m. The emission was significantly oversubscribed.

February 13, 2014

Serbia: Inflation Requires New IMF Agreement

In the light of a devaluation of the Dinar Serbia needs a new agreement with the IMF to improve funding and accelerate the realization of reforms.

February 10, 2014

ECB Wants to Supervise All Banks

For the European Central Bank, the current authority does not go far enough. The ECB wants to control all 6,600 banks in the Eurozone.

February 8, 2014

Sale of Bad Assets: UniCredit Under Pressure

The parent company of Bank Austria, the Italian lender UniCredit, wants to sell its risky assets as soon as possible. Insiders report that UniCredit wants to sell its “bad bank”.

February 8, 2014 · Updated: February 8, 2014; 14:12

“Fragile Recovery in CEE Banking Sector”

According to the U.S. rating agency Fitch, the banking sector in Central and Eastern Europe is highly heterogeneous.

February 6, 2014

Poland: Public Debt Falls Significantly

Due to the nationalization of the pension funds OFE, Poland´s public debt quota goes down to 50% of GDP.

February 6, 2014

Fitch Criticizes European Stress Tests

The rating agency argues that there is still a lack in technical details. Regarding the robustness of the stress tests, Fitch demonstrates skepticism.

February 6, 2014

Criticism of Croatia´s Fiscal Policy

Next year, Croatia´s government wants to comply with the EU fiscal rules. According to economists, this aim is not realistic.

February 4, 2014

EBRD: CESEE Not Under Pressure Yet

According to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, most countries in CESEE are relatively unaffected despite the renewed pressure on emerging markets.

February 4, 2014

Tusk: No Monetary Interventions Necessary

In the past few months, the Polish zloty fell significantly. However, Poland´s Prime Minister Donald Tusk thinks that the zloty does not need support.

February 3, 2014

Austria: First Signs of a Credit Crunch

According to the CFO barometer, large enterprises fear that the access to bank loans will continue to worsen. Austrian SME want to become more independent of banks.

February 3, 2014

Hungary: Next Currency Crisis Ahead

The extremely loose monetary policy begins to become a problem for Hungary. The forint exchange rate is going up considerably.

February 1, 2014

Hungary Faces Trend Reversal in Monetary Policy

The Hungarian National Bank (MNB) has cut the reference rate to 2.85% from 3.00%. The end of the easing cycle is not reached yet.

January 25, 2014

EBRD Presents New Strategy for Bosnia

The new strategy focuses on the development of small and medium-sized enterprises and the exporting industrial sector.

January 25, 2014

Poland: More than Half of Borrowing Needs Covered

In CESEE, governments are in a hurry. The Polish government announced that about 50% of the borrowing needs could be covered in the first three weeks of 2014.

January 24, 2014

Poland: Banking Sentiment Rises

The Polish banking sentiment indicator Pengab increased by 1.2 points in January on a month-on-month comparison basis to a total of 27.5 points.

January 23, 2014

CESEE: Recovery Remains Modest

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has published a report on the regional economic prospects. The economic recovery in CESEE remains fragile.

January 23, 2014

Capital Increase: Raiffeisen Bank International Has High Hopes

The second-largest lender in Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe (CESEE) wants to raise funds of € 2.9bn. This is substantially more than initially scheduled.

January 21, 2014

„Only A Catastrophy Will Bring a Change“

Bestselling author Marc Friedrich criticizes the IMF sharply and thinks that the Basel III framework is “ridiculous”. The U.S. monetary policy is “doomed to failure”.

January 21, 2014

Czech Republic: Lending Conditions to Remain Stable

According to the Czech National Bank (CNB), credit conditions for corporate and mortgage loans will remain unchanged while conditions for consumer loans will tighten.

January 20, 2014

$ 1.0trn Capital Shortfall in European Banking Sector?

According to U.S. economists, the stress tests carried out by the European Central Bank are too soft.

January 16, 2014

Hypo Group: No Alternative to Bad Bank

The time pressure on the Austrian government is growing day by day. The nationalized Austrian problem bank urgently needs a bad bank.

January 14, 2014

IMF and EBRD Deeply Concerned Over CESEE

Foreign banks continue to withdraw capital from the region. According to the International Monetary Fund, the development is highly considerable.

January 14, 2014

Raiffeisen Bank International Moves Up a Gear

The second-largest lender in CESEE is in a hurry. According to the news provider Bloomberg, the capital increase may take place in the next few weeks.

January 14, 2014

Poland to Cover Borrowing Needs Early

The biggest CESEE economy wants to raise cash before the U.S. FED begins to reduce its asset buying program. The CESEE region will absorb the monetary shock, though.

January 13, 2014

Fitch: Positive Comment on Raiffeisen Bank International

According to the U.S. rating agency, the planned capital increase is evaluated positively. In certain CESEE market, RBI´s operations will remain challenging, Fitch said.

January 11, 2014

Europe/CESEE: Heavy Trade in Distressed Assets

Until 2018, European lenders will offload about 300bn of bad debts, according to PwC. Above all, U.S. private equity firms are taking the opportunity.

January 11, 2014

Slovenia: 2014 Credit Line of € 7.7bn

On Thursday the Slovenian government adopted a budget financing plan which includes this year’s credit line of up to € 7.7bn.

January 10, 2014

Raiffeisen Bank International to Raise Capital

Austrian RBI will increase capital be € 2.25bn in summer 2014. This step was already long-awaited. The shareholder structure will change substantially.

January 8, 2014
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