Sponsored Content
Italy


Austria: New CEO for Hypo Group Alpe Adria

The search for a new CEO for Hypo Group has ended. On Friday the bank has found a new head of the management board since the position was vacant after Gottwald Kranebitter’s resignation this summer.
December 20, 2013


Buwog's Spin Off More Likely than IPO

Immofinanz plans on increasing the portfolio of its affiliate Buwog, which focuses on residential real estate, by acquiring a volume of 18,000 apartments in Northern Germany.
December 19, 2013


Hungary: Good News for Banks in Forex Proceedings

Banks operating in Hungary can feel relieved by the Supreme Court’s judgement.
December 16, 2013


Slovenia Pushes Forward with Privatizations

In spite of the capital shortfall of € 4.78bn of the banks in Slovenia, the bank stress test was passed by the financial institutes.
December 13, 2013


Croatia: Erste Offer Rejected

Austrian Erste Group intended to aquire Croatian HPB. However, the offer was rejected by the Finance Ministry as the purchase price was considered too low.
December 13, 2013


Slovenian Banks Exhibit Capital Gap of Almost € 5bn

The capital gap of Slovenian banks comes at a total of 4.78bn, according to the stress test published today.
December 12, 2013


Leitl: Government Plans “Complete Nonsense“

According to Christoph Leitl, President of the Austrian Chamber of Commerce, the “great” suggestions planned by his working group are not realized by the government.
December 10, 2013


EU Demands € 55bn for Banking Union

The Finance Ministers of the European Union are still negotiating about a mechanism aimed at preventing states from having to take over financial difficulties from banks, the banking union.
December 9, 2013


Slovenia: Bank Stress Test Results Expected Earlier

According to a source within the European Union, the test results of the asset review of Slovenian banks will be published on December 12.
December 6, 2013


Slovenia: National Bank Rejects Rumors

The Slovenian National Bank has reacted to the increasing number of reports on the possible result of the stress tests at eight Slovenian Banks.
December 5, 2013


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


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


UniCredit Bank Ukraine and Ukrsotsbank to be Merged

CEE Division completes additional steps in business refocusing.
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


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


VIG: „We Will Clean Up Merciless“

Yesterday, the Austrian insurance group VIG (Vienna Insurance Group) published surprisingly bad results. In Italy and Romania, VIG has a lot of work to do.
November 28, 2013


Vienna Insurance Group: Net Income to Fall

The biggest Austrian insurance group is anticipated to post lower profits.
November 27, 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


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


Bank Austria: Economic Recovery Continues

The Bank Austria Business Indicator provides an overview of the current economic situation in Austria.
November 18, 2013


Nowotny: Economic Recovery not as Strong as Expected

According to Ewald Nowotny, governor of the Austrian National Bank (OeNB), indicators point toward a slow recovery in the next quarters.
November 18, 2013


Romania: UniCredit Tiriac Bank’s Profits Exceeding Expectations

On an annual comparison basis, Unicredit Tiriac Bank posted an increase of profits of 48 percent to € 48.5m since the beginning of this year exceeding all expectations.
November 13, 2013


Half of Austrians Consider the Country Stuck in Recession

According to an online survey, the Austrians are confident and not concerned by the most recent recession in the Eurozone. With a total of 87 index points consumer’s confidence remained stable in the third quarter of 2013.
November 12, 2013


Bank Austria: Results Slightly above Expectations

Results for the first nine months of 2013: BankAustria posts net profit of over EUR 1 billion for the first nine months.
November 12, 2013


UniCredit: Net Income Driven By CESEE

Italian UniCredit Group´s quarterly net income was down by 40%. Losses in Italy could be more than offset by the results in Poland and Bank Austria´s contributions.
November 11, 2013


Albania: Domestic Banks Struggling to Keep Up

According to a report by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the Albanian financial sector is dominated by foreign banks. Domestic banks are struggling to keep up with the internationally operating competition.
November 8, 2013


Slovenia: Ten Banks under Stress Test

In addition to the country’s three major banks, NLB, NKBM and Abanka Vipa, seven other banks are concerned by the bank stress test.
November 7, 2013


Leitl Rejects Further Bank Taxes

Christoph Leitl, president of the Austrian Chamber of Commerce (WKO), rejects the Finance Ministry’s plan to impose further taxes on Austrian banks in order to decrease public debts.
November 6, 2013


Austrian Banks Demand Cut in Bank Levy

Major banks in Austria demand tax reliefs in return for a participation in Hypo Group Alpe Adria’s bad bank.
November 5, 2013


Czech Budget Deficit to Remain Below Approved Mark

The budget deficit in the Czech Republic increased to CZK 47.7bn in October from CZK 38.2bn in September.
November 4, 2013


Austrian Industrial Sector Gaining Stability

The upwards trend in Austrian industry picked up pace in October. Highest survey reading for two years signals clear pick-up of industrial activity
October 30, 2013


Cernko: Bank Shops in Austria Have to Be Reduced

In spite of the banks’ progresses Austria still has a high densitiy in bank branches.
October 30, 2013


Austrian Banking Sector: NPL at Eurozone´s Top

In the Eurozone, the non-performing loans are still growing. In total, 7.8% of the loan portfolio is risky. Austrian banks are significantly above the average.
October 30, 2013


Czech Republic: Four Banks too Big to Fail

CNB has determined four domestic banks that could potentially endanger the country’s financial system in case of bankruptcy, as reported by daily “Hospodarske noviny” (HN).
October 24, 2013


Bank Austria Issues € 500m Bond

Bank Austria, part of Italian major bank UniCredit and in charge of CESEE business, is raising money from the capital market.
October 22, 2013


Mitterlehner: “2014 Will Become Significantly Better“

Austrian Minister for Economy Reinhold Mitterlehner considers the Austrian economy to be in a spirit of optimism as an upturn in Europe has become evident. According to him, 2014 is supposed to become “significantly better” than 2013.
October 17, 2013


Eurozone: Banking Union Approved

From autumn 2014 on, the European Central Bank (ECB) will directly supervise 130 major banks within the Eurozone.
October 16, 2013


Russian and Ukrainian Oligarchs Interested in RBI’s Affiliate

The Ukrainian affiliate of Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI), Bank Aval, has become the object of desire for Russian billionaire Fridman and Ukrainian banker Lagun.
October 15, 2013


HVB: UniCredit Considers IPO

Bank Austria´s holding company UniCredit may sell a minority stake in Germany HVB.
October 14, 2013


Austria Remains Main Investor in Slovenia

Last year, almost the half of the foreign direct investments in Slovenia came from Austria.
October 11, 2013


UK: Growth Potential in CESEE

According to the IMF, the UK economy is not diversified sufficiently. Now, UK promotes exports to the CESEE region.
October 5, 2013


UniCredit Toying With Idea of Take-Over in Poland

Italian bank UniCredit considers to extend business at the growing Polish market by a take-over.
October 3, 2013


Moody’s Honors Austrian Banks in CESEE

Only a year ago, the rating agency downgraded Austria because of its banks’ engagement in Eastern Europe. However, the situation has changed to the better.
October 3, 2013


Austrian Industry Continues Upward Trend

Developments in Austria follow the European trend.
September 30, 2013


RZB: Leasing Segment Proves Difficult

Last year, the leasing subsidiary of Raiffeisen Zentralbank (RZB) has recorded massive losses. In the next years, the leasing business will not return to profitability.
September 28, 2013


Raids at Ukrainian Affiliate of Bank Austria

Ukrsotsbank in Kiev was searched on Friday due to unclear ownership structures of non-performing loans which led to disputes between banks and clients. Within the Unicredit Group Bank Austria is responsible for banks in Eastern Europe.
September 25, 2013


Head of Slovenia’s Chief Bank Arrested

Janko Medja, manager of Slovenia’s most important bank NLB, was arrested because of suspicion of corruption.
September 20, 2013


Bank Austria to Close Subsidiaries in Hungary

Because of higher costs caused by a tax on financial transaction, which was introduced during the current year, the affiliate of Italian UniCredit intends to downsize operations in Hungary.
September 19, 2013


Bank Austria Considers Establishing Franchise Banks in Austria

The streamlining of the CESEE network of Bank Austria seems to take on a very concrete form now.
September 16, 2013