Austria
Small and medium eurozone banks must assess business models, Lautenschläger says
Smaller financial institutions need to examine their business models in detail, eurozone regulator says; SSM wants harmonised treatment of institutional protection schemes
Austria should ‘stand ready’ to tighten capital requirements, IMF staff say
The country has made ‘significant progress’ in restructuring the regulatory and supervisory framework, the report says, but the banking sector's resilience could be strengthened
National Bank of Austria tells banks not to slow reform pace
Financial stability report notes trend of improving capitalisation has slowed; urges banks to continue the reform process and avoid short-term growth at the expense of stability
Paper explores whether governments prefer under-capitalised banks in crises
Governments may prefer banks to be weakly capitalised as this increases the likelihood they will act as buyers of last resort for domestic debt; paper considers impact on regulation
Armenian annual report highlights growing European ties
Central Bank of Armenia strikes loan agreement worth €50 million with European Investment Bank and will use the money to fund SME projects
Austrian central bank will shut NY office in savings drive
National Bank of Austria expects to cut expenses by €96 million in the next five years as part of ‘optimisation’ project; New York office and branches in Graz and Linz will close by 2018
Nowotny considers ‘human costs’ of structural reform
National Bank of Austria governor challenges economists to think about the quality of economic growth, suggesting this could have implications for the pursuit of structural reforms
Nowotny sees ‘strange irony’ in Austrian success
Central bank governor argues policy-makers made Austria economically successful by acting contrary to the libertarian approach favoured by the Austrian School of economics
Austria to repatriate third of gold reserves
Central bank plans to move gold out of the UK and into Austria and Switzerland after court of audit raises concern over ‘high concentration risk’
ECB adviser admits more clarity needed over stress tests
Banks should be given a clearer picture of why their stress test numbers don’t pass muster with the ECB, says Christoph Siebenbrunner of the Austrian National Bank
Nowotny calls on IMF to help address global spillovers
IMF surveillance function should be further developed to help overcome negative spillovers in an increasingly inter-connected world, Austria governor says
National Bank of Hungary honours Austrian governor
Ewald Nowotny receives Lamfalussy Award for ‘exceptional international efforts’; associated conference in Budapest features comments from a host of European central bankers
National Bank of Austria overhauls ‘outdated’ website
Austrian central bank spent €500,000 renovating its 10-year-old website, with a focus on condensing the content and making it easier to navigate
Austrian deputy resigns amid ongoing bribery case
Wolfgang Duchatczek quits National Bank of Austria; stands accused of bribery in relation to banknote printing deals with Syria and Azerbaijan
National Bank of Austria vice-governor faces bribery charges
Wolfgang Duchatczek and eight others charged with bribery in connection with note-printing deals with Syria and Azerbaijan
Nalm 2013: National Bank of Austria analyst sets out currency diversification strategy
Portfolio analyst details models and analysis used to determine National Bank of Austria’s currency portfolio; shows diversification gives better risk/return
National Bank of Austria reshuffles governing board
Governor Ewald Nowotny reappointed for second term; executive director Peter Zöllner departs for BIS, and two new executive directors are chosen
Moody’s alters sovereign debt ratings of nine EU countries
Austria, France and the UK see outlooks on Aaa ratings changed to negative; Spain and five other countries’ ratings are downgraded
ECB paper captures effect of eurozone sovereign risk on bond spreads
European Central Bank study says both country-specific and contagion risk contributed to widening of sovereign bond spreads against the German Bund during the financial crisis
European uncertainty reflected in central bank decisions worldwide
Germany, Austria, India and South Korea lower growth estimates as a slew of countries hold interest rates; world looks on and waits to see if Europe can agree a solution to the sovereign debt crisis
Austria's Nowotny under scrutiny in banknote bribery case
Governor Ewald Nowotny and members of the central bank’s supervisory board under investigation; accused of having knowledge of bribery of foreign officials in race to win banknote printing contracts
Austria pushes ahead with Basel III
National Bank of Austria announces plans to require banking groups to comply immediately with Basel III's higher capital requirements; sets restrictions on loan issuance
National Bank of Austria to invest in renminbi-denominated assets
People’s Bank of China and National Bank of Austria sign agreement enabling the Austrian central bank to invest in renminbi-denominated assets
New regulatory initiatives pose stability risks: National Bank of Austria paper
National Bank of Austria study says overdose of Tobin tax can lead to severe instability of financial system; ban on short selling increases tail risk