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{{Short description|Austrian subsidiary of the UniCredit Group}}
{{Short description|Austrian subsidiary of the UniCredit Group}}
{{Infobox company
{{Infobox company
| name = UniCredit Bank Austria AG
| name = UniCredit Bank Austria AG
| image = File:BankAustriaCampus2024.jpg
| logo = Bank Austria Creditanstalt Logo.svg
| image_caption = Austria Campus complex in [[Vienna]], head office of Bank Austria since 2018
| logo_size =
| type = [[Subsidiary]] AG
| image = Wien 02 Austria Campus i.jpg
| foundation = 18 September 1996 (1855 as Österreichische Credit-Anstalt für Handel und Gwerbe)
| image_caption = Austria Bank new headquarters in Austria Campus, Vienna.
| type = [[Subsidiary]] of [[Unicredit]]
| location = [[Vienna]], [[Austria]]
| key_people = {{flatlist|
| foundation = 1855 (Creditanstalt)<br> 1880 (Länderbank) <br> 1905 (Zentralsparkasse)<br> 1991 (Bank Austria (fusion of ZSK and LB))<br> 2002 (Bank Austria Creditanstalt) <br> 2008 (Bank Austria)
*Robert Zadrazil, [[CEO]]
| location = [[Vienna]], [[Austria]]
| key_people = Robert Zadrazil, [[Chairman]]
*Gianfranco Bisagni, [[Chairman]]}}
| num_employees =
| num_employees = 4,872 (Full-time equivalents/FTE, as of year-end 2022)
| industry = [[Finance and Insurance]]
| industry = [[Finance services]]
| operating_income = [[Euro|€]]1.993 million (2022)
| revenue = [[Euro|€]]2.9 bn (as of 2015)<ref>[http://www.bankaustria.at/files/Halbjahresfinanzbericht2015_EN.pdf Half-Yearly Financial Report 2015]</ref>
| assets = [[Euro|€]]191.4 bn (as of 2015)
| net_income = [[Euro|€]]823 million (2022)
| assets = [[Euro|€]]107.3 billion (as of year-end 2022)
⚫
| products = [[Commercial bank]]ing, [[Investment bank]]ing, [[Private bank]]ing, [[Asset management]]
| equity = [[Euro|€]]9.4 billion (2022)
| parent = [[UniCredit]]
⚫
| products = Retail and [[Commercial bank]]ing, [[Investment bank]]ing, [[Private bank]]ing, [[Asset management]]
| homepage = [http://www.bankaustria.at/ www.bankaustria.at]
| homepage = [http://www.bankaustria.at/ www.bankaustria.at]
}}
}}
'''UniCredit Bank Austria AG''', better known as '''Bank Austria,''' is an Austrian bank, 96.35% owned by [[UniCredit Group]] based in [[Milan]], [[Italy]]. The bank maintains an extensive network in Austria, with about 7,700 employees serving customers in some 300 branches. Bank Austria also served as UniCredit's intermediate holding company for the banking network in Central and Eastern Europe (until September 2016), a region where the Group is the clear market leader with about 3,900 branches in 19 countries. However, all the CEE subsidiaries were transferred to the parent company in September 2016.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.unicreditgroup.eu/en/press-media/press-releases/2016/trasferimento-della-divisione-cee-da-bank-austria-a-unicredit-s-0.html|title=Transfer of CEE Division from Bank Austria to UniCredit SpA|date=30 September 2016|access-date=16 December 2016|publisher=UniCredit}}</ref> As per 2008, 85% of Bank Austria's total workforce is employed out of Austria.


'''UniCredit Bank Austria AG''', branded and widely referred to as '''Bank Austria''', is an Austrian bank, 99,9965% owned by [[Milan]]-based pan-European banking group [[UniCredit]]. Bank Austria was formed in 1991 by merger of Vienna's [[Länderbank]] and [[Zentralsparkasse]], acquired [[Creditanstalt-Bankverein]] in 1997, and merged with it to form '''Bank Austria-Creditanstalt''' ('''BA-CA''') in 2002. Its name reverted to Bank Austria in 2008, as UniCredit, the bank's owner since 2005, phased out the history-laden Creditanstalt brand.
Since 2007, Bank Austria is also responsible for all UniCredit affiliates in the [[European Union]]. Thus, Bank Austria inherited operation in 20 countries it had no representation before, of which even UniCredit had no activity. However, Bank Austria could not retrieve its business in Poland, where it had been well represented by BHP.

⚫
The 2000s saw the bank in the middle of substantial litigation around trustee [[Rudolfine Steindling]]'s transfer of former East German, now German, money to her own accounts. In 2010 a Swiss court ruled <ref>[http://derstandard.at/1322531769498/Bank-Austria-atmet-durch-Rote-Fini-und-die-DDR-Millionen Der Standard, Austrian newspaper in German]</ref> that the predecessor Österreichische Länderbank had broken the law by aiding her to channel away the money and had to pay €240 million but a higher court overruled this decision on formal grounds.

Total assets of Bank Austria as at 31 December 2011 were EUR 199.2 billion. Bank Austria is the number one banking partner for Austrian companies:
* 80 per cent of large corporates
* 37 per cent of medium-sized companies
* 21 per cent of small businesses
have confidence in Bank Austria's services.
<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.bankaustria.at/en/open.html#/en/4166.html |title=Bank Austria - About us<!-- Bot generated title --> |access-date=2012-06-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140512220910/http://www.bankaustria.at/en/open.html#/en/4166.html |archive-date=2014-05-12 |url-status=dead }}</ref>


==History==
==History==
BA-CA's history goes as far back as 1855, the year the Creditanstalt was founded (see article on [[Creditanstalt]]).

⚫
In 1991, savings bank Zentralsparkasse und Kommerzialbank Wien and financially depressed, state-owned [[Österreichische Länderbank]] merged to form Bank Austria, by then the largest bank in the country. Current corporation was established in 1996 and German [[WestLB]] took a 9.1% share.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.firmenabc.at/unicredit-bank-austria-ag_EdA |title = UniCredit Bank Austria AG, 2. Bezirk / Leopoldstadt, Wien - FirmenABC.at}}</ref> The same year, the government announced the privatization of Creditanstalt, of which it held a 51% stake. In January 1997 Bank Austria finally managed to buy the stake for about 1.25 billion euros. In turn, Bank Austria sold a majority stake in GiroCredit for 8.24 billion schillings (about 600 million euros) to [[Erste Bank]]. In February 1998, the state sold its last shares and the remaining shares on the market were exchanged with shares in Bank Austria, and Creditanstalt was delisted from the [[Vienna Stock Exchange]].

⚫
In 2000, [[HVB Group]] took over Bank Austria through a share exchange procedure, and Bank Austria was delisted. An assets exchange procedure led to the transfert of HVB's assets in central and eastern Europe to Bank Austria, and reversely. In March 2003, Bank Austria's merger with CreditAnstalt being fully effective, and IPO was offered for the new BA-CA.

⚫
In June 2005 Italian group UniCredit disclosed the acquisition of Hypovereinsbank, along with BA-CA. Restructuring led to the creation of a new holding for BA-CA foreign assets in eastern Europe, the transformation of the Polish activity to a full affiliate, the shrinking of BA-CA per se to a smaller market, and the shrinking of HVB to the German market. In order to respect cartel restriction, BA-CA's affiliate [[Splitska banka]] had to be sold to [[Société Générale]], for UniCredit already owned [[Zagrebačka banka]], what management was transferred to BA-CA.{{citation needed|date=December 2016}} BA-CA acquired [[Koç Finansal Hizmetler]] (Turkey), Zagrebačka banka (Croatia), [[UniCredit Bulbank|Bulbank]] (Bulgaria), [[Živnostenska banka]] (Czech Republic), [[UniCredit Bank Slovakia|UniBanka]] (Slovakia) and [[UniCredit Bank Romania|UniCredit Romania]] from UniCredit in that operation.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.unicreditgroup.eu/en/press-media/press-releases-price-sensitive/2008/PressRelease0267.html|title=UniCredit finalizes the transfer to BA-CA of its banking shareholdings in Central Eastern Europe (excluding Poland)|date=19 March 2007|access-date=22 December 2016|publisher=UniCredit}}</ref>

⚫
In 2006 BA-CA continued its expansion in Russia by acquiring remaining shares in [[International Moscow Bank]]{{citation needed|date=December 2016}} and 100% of institutional business of [[Aton Capital]] - a Russian brokerage.
<ref>[http://www.ba-ca.com/en/18563.html Bank Austria – Weiterleitung<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Moreover, Kazakh bank ATFBank was acquired in 2007.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://newsv1.orf.at/?href=http%3A%2F%2Fnewsv1.orf.at%2Fticker%2F256956.html |title = news.ORF.at}}</ref>


⚫
Bank Austria was formed in 1991 by the merger of the troubled [[Länderbank]] and Vienna's [[Zentralsparkasse]], in practice a takeover of the former by the latter led by its general director {{ill|René Alfons Haiden|de}}; the merged entity became Austria's largest bank. In 1996, the Austrian government announced the privatization of [[Creditanstalt-Bankverein]], in which it held a majority stake. In January 1997, Bank Austria acquired the stake for about 1.25 billion euros. In turn, Bank Austria sold a majority stake it held in GiroCredit for 8.24 billion schillings (about 600 million euros) to [[Erste Bank]]. In February 1998, the state sold its last shares and the remaining shares on the market were exchanged with shares in Bank Austria, and Creditanstalt was delisted from the [[Vienna Stock Exchange]].
⚫
Since 31 March 2008, the bank has been operating under the brand name "Bank Austria" and has a new logo to show the connection to the UniCredit Group. It has the strongest capital base among the large banks in Austria, its Core Tier 1 ratio amounted to 10.55% and its Total Capital ratio to 12.7% as of 31 December 2011.


⚫
In stages from 2000 to 2002, [[HVB Group]] took over Bank Austria. Subsequently in 2002, Bank Austria's shares were delisted, and Bank Austria and Creditanstalt merged to form Bank Austria-Creditanstalt. An assets exchange procedure led to the transfert of HVB's assets in central and eastern Europe to Bank Austria, and reversely. The new BA-CA's shares were offered to the public through an [[IPO]] in 2003.
==Management==
As of 2016 Bank Austria is managed by CEO Robert Zadrazil.


⚫
In June 2005 Italian group UniCredit announced the acquisition of HypoVereinsbank, along with BA-CA. Restructuring led to the creation of a new holding for BA-CA foreign assets in eastern Europe, the transformation of the Polish activity to a full affiliate, the shrinking of BA-CA per se to a smaller market, and the shrinking of HVB to the German market. In order to respect cartel restriction in [[Croatia]], BA-CA's affiliate [[Splitska banka]] was sold to [[Société Générale]], for UniCredit already owned [[Zagrebačka banka]].{{citation needed|date=December 2016}} BA-CA acquired [[Koç Finansal Hizmetler]] (Turkey), Zagrebačka banka (Croatia), [[UniCredit Bulbank|Bulbank]] (Bulgaria), [[Živnostenska banka]] (Czechia), [[UniCredit Bank Slovakia|UniBanka]] (Slovakia) and [[UniCredit Bank Romania|UniCredit Romania]] from UniCredit in that operation.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.unicreditgroup.eu/en/press-media/press-releases-price-sensitive/2008/PressRelease0267.html|title=UniCredit finalizes the transfer to BA-CA of its banking shareholdings in Central Eastern Europe (excluding Poland)|date=19 March 2007|access-date=22 December 2016|publisher=UniCredit}}</ref>
The Chairman is Erich Hampel.


⚫
In 2006 BA-CA continued its expansion in Russia by acquiring remaining shares in [[International Moscow Bank]]{{citation needed|date=December 2016}} and 100% of institutional business of [[Aton Capital]] - a Russian brokerage.<ref>[http://www.ba-ca.com/en/18563.html Bank Austria – Weiterleitung<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Moreover, Kazakh bank ATFBank was acquired in 2007.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://newsv1.orf.at/?href=http%3A%2F%2Fnewsv1.orf.at%2Fticker%2F256956.html |title = news.ORF.at}}</ref>
==Activity in central and eastern-Europe==
Bank Austria has a long tradition of operations in central and eastern Europe. After outbreak of World War I, foreign affiliates of the Creditanstalt and the Länderbank had to be abandoned. In 1975 Creditanstalt became the first Western bank to open an office in Budapest. In 1997, the activities of Creditanstalt and Bank Austria in the region were brought under the umbrella of a new holding company, Bank Austria Creditanstalt International. It was expanded to all foreign activities, with the exception of the Russian banks, a year later.


⚫
Since 31 March 2008, the bank has been operating under the brand name "Bank Austria" and has a new logo to show the connection to the UniCredit Group. It had the strongest capital base among the large banks in Austria, its Core Tier 1 ratio amounted to 10.55% and its Total Capital ratio to 12.7% as of 31 December 2011.
A great deal of Bank Austria's turnover is made in central and eastern Europe. The UniCredit network in the region includes 3,800 offices in 19 countries and about 71,000 employees.


In 2016, UniCredit took back from Bank Austria direct ownership of its affiliates in Central and Eastern Europe. Also as of 2016, Bank Austria was managed by CEO Robert Zadrazil.
In September 2016 the CEE division was transferred to the parent company UniCredit S.p.A.


==Controversy==
===Former subsidiaries===
* [[UniCredit Bank Slovenia]] (99.99%)
* [[UniCredit Bank Czech Republic and Slovakia]] (99.96%)
* [[UniCredit Bank Russia]] (100%)


⚫
The 2000s saw the bank in the middle of substantial litigation around trustee [[Rudolfine Steindling]]'s transfer of former East German, now German, money to her own accounts. In 2010 a Swiss court ruled <ref>[http://derstandard.at/1322531769498/Bank-Austria-atmet-durch-Rote-Fini-und-die-DDR-Millionen Der Standard, Austrian newspaper in German]</ref> that the predecessor [[Länderbank]] had broken the law by aiding her to channel away the money and had to pay €240 million but a higher court overruled this decision on formal grounds.
==Key figures==
As of June 30, 2015 <ref>[http://www.bankaustria.at/files/Halbjahresfinanzbericht2015_EN.pdf Half-Yearly Financial Report 2015]</ref>
* Total Assets: €191,442 Million
* Earnings: €803 Million
* Return on Equity: 6.9%
* Workforce: 6,903 (Austria), 35,919 (Global)
* Offices: 225 (Austria), 1,585 (Global)
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[Image:Bank Austria Creditanstalt logo.PNG|thumb|old BA-CA logo]] -->


==See also==
==See also==
{{Portal|Banks}}
{{Portal|Banks}}
* [[Erste Group]]
* [[Raiffeisen Bank International]]
* [[Banking in Austria]]
* [[Banking in Austria]]
* [[List of banks in Austria]]
* [[List of banks in Austria]]
*[[List of investors in Bernard L. Madoff Securities]]
* [[List of investors in Bernard L. Madoff Securities]]


==References==
==References==

Latest revision as of 09:18, 22 May 2024

UniCredit Bank Austria AG
Company typeSubsidiary AG
IndustryFinance services
Founded18 September 1996 (1855 as Österreichische Credit-Anstalt für Handel und Gwerbe)
HeadquartersVienna, Austria
Key people
ProductsRetail and Commercial banking, Investment banking, Private banking, Asset management
€1.993 million (2022)
€823 million (2022)
Total assets€107.3 billion (as of year-end 2022)
Total equity€9.4 billion (2022)
Number of employees
4,872 (Full-time equivalents/FTE, as of year-end 2022)
Websitewww.bankaustria.at

UniCredit Bank Austria AG, branded and widely referred to as Bank Austria, is an Austrian bank, 99,9965% owned by Milan-based pan-European banking group UniCredit. Bank Austria was formed in 1991 by merger of Vienna's Länderbank and Zentralsparkasse, acquired Creditanstalt-Bankverein in 1997, and merged with it to form Bank Austria-Creditanstalt (BA-CA) in 2002. Its name reverted to Bank Austria in 2008, as UniCredit, the bank's owner since 2005, phased out the history-laden Creditanstalt brand.

History

[edit]

Bank Austria was formed in 1991 by the merger of the troubled Länderbank and Vienna's Zentralsparkasse, in practice a takeover of the former by the latter led by its general director René Alfons Haiden [de]; the merged entity became Austria's largest bank. In 1996, the Austrian government announced the privatization of Creditanstalt-Bankverein, in which it held a majority stake. In January 1997, Bank Austria acquired the stake for about 1.25 billion euros. In turn, Bank Austria sold a majority stake it held in GiroCredit for 8.24 billion schillings (about 600 million euros) to Erste Bank. In February 1998, the state sold its last shares and the remaining shares on the market were exchanged with shares in Bank Austria, and Creditanstalt was delisted from the Vienna Stock Exchange.

In stages from 2000 to 2002, HVB Group took over Bank Austria. Subsequently in 2002, Bank Austria's shares were delisted, and Bank Austria and Creditanstalt merged to form Bank Austria-Creditanstalt. An assets exchange procedure led to the transfert of HVB's assets in central and eastern Europe to Bank Austria, and reversely. The new BA-CA's shares were offered to the public through an IPO in 2003.

In June 2005 Italian group UniCredit announced the acquisition of HypoVereinsbank, along with BA-CA. Restructuring led to the creation of a new holding for BA-CA foreign assets in eastern Europe, the transformation of the Polish activity to a full affiliate, the shrinking of BA-CA per se to a smaller market, and the shrinking of HVB to the German market. In order to respect cartel restriction in Croatia, BA-CA's affiliate Splitska banka was sold to Société Générale, for UniCredit already owned Zagrebačka banka.[citation needed] BA-CA acquired Koç Finansal Hizmetler (Turkey), Zagrebačka banka (Croatia), Bulbank (Bulgaria), Živnostenska banka (Czechia), UniBanka (Slovakia) and UniCredit Romania from UniCredit in that operation.[1]

In 2006 BA-CA continued its expansion in Russia by acquiring remaining shares in International Moscow Bank[citation needed] and 100% of institutional business of Aton Capital - a Russian brokerage.[2] Moreover, Kazakh bank ATFBank was acquired in 2007.[3]

Since 31 March 2008, the bank has been operating under the brand name "Bank Austria" and has a new logo to show the connection to the UniCredit Group. It had the strongest capital base among the large banks in Austria, its Core Tier 1 ratio amounted to 10.55% and its Total Capital ratio to 12.7% as of 31 December 2011.

In 2016, UniCredit took back from Bank Austria direct ownership of its affiliates in Central and Eastern Europe. Also as of 2016, Bank Austria was managed by CEO Robert Zadrazil.

Controversy

[edit]

The 2000s saw the bank in the middle of substantial litigation around trustee Rudolfine Steindling's transfer of former East German, now German, money to her own accounts. In 2010 a Swiss court ruled [4] that the predecessor Länderbank had broken the law by aiding her to channel away the money and had to pay €240 million but a higher court overruled this decision on formal grounds.

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "UniCredit finalizes the transfer to BA-CA of its banking shareholdings in Central Eastern Europe (excluding Poland)". UniCredit. 19 March 2007. Retrieved 22 December 2016.
  2. ^ Bank Austria – Weiterleitung
  3. ^ "news.ORF.at".
  4. ^ Der Standard, Austrian newspaper in German
[edit]
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