Raiffeisen Bank International AG
TypeAktiengesellschaft
WBAG: RBI
ISINAT0000606306
IndustryFinancial services
Founded
  • 16 August 1927 (predecessor)
  • 18 March 2017 (2017-03-18) (merged with RZB Group)
Headquarters
Vienna
,
Austria
Area served
  • Austria
  • Central Europe
  • Eastern Europe
ServicesRetail and corporate banking
Owner
WebsiteRBInternational.com

Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) is an Austrian banking group and a central institution of the Raiffeisen Banking Group Austria (RBG). The bank is listed on the Vienna Stock Exchange, with RBG's regional banks its major shareholders.[2]

RBI was a subsidiary of Raiffeisen Zentralbank (RZB Group) until March 2017, when it reverse-merged with RZB into one unified company. Due to its size, the bank was supervised by the European Central Bank as one of the 126 banking groups.[3]

RBI has been designated as a Significant Institution since the entry into force of European Banking Supervision in late 2014, and as a consequence is directly supervised by the European Central Bank.[4][5]

History

Formerly a subsidiary of Raiffeisen Zentralbank, Raiffeisen Bank International operates a banking network mainly in Central and Eastern Europe, although also maintains operations in Western Europe. Seventeen markets are covered by subsidiary banks, leasing companies, and representative offices. At the end of 2010, RBI served over 14 million customers with about 3,000 branch offices. At the end of February 2010, RZB CEO Walter Rothensteiner announced that a possible merger of RZB with Raiffeisen International Bank-Holding AG (RI) was being considered. The move would provide broader access to the capital, money, and bond markets. Since the changes would take place within the group, it would have no impact on their equity capital ratios. The newly-founded Raiffeisen Bank International would contain RI and those segments of RZB which do not involve the Raiffeisen sector. Business related to RZB's function as the central institution of the Raiffeisen Banking Group and participation relevant to this sector would remain at RZB. On 19 April 2010, the executive boards of the two institutions resolved to present the proposed merger to the shareholders for approval. At the general shareholders' meeting on 7 July 2010, RZB's shareholders voted to merge the bank's commercial customer business with RI. The following day, RI shareholders approved the merger at a general shareholders' meeting. The new institution, Raiffeisen Bank International, began its activities on 11 October 2010.

In 2013, Raiffeisen Bank International opened its Hong Kong branch.[6] Two years later, its Xiamen branch and Harbin office closed.[7] In 2016, Raiffeisen Banka d.d. of Slovenia (which was renamed KBS Banka and merged with another bank to become Nova KBM)[8] was sold to Apollo Global Management and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.[9]

On 18 March 2017, Raiffeisen Bank International merged with Raiffeisen Zentralbank Österreich;[10] the merger was approved at a January 2017 extraordinary general meeting of RBI's shareholders.[11] The bank suspended the initial public offering of its subsidiary, Raiffeisen Bank Polska, in mid-2017.[12][13][14]

In January 2023, U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control became interested in Raiffeisen's Russian business. Raiffeisen is one of the few large international banks that did not wind down its business after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The Russian division of Raiffeisen has the status of a systemically important bank, ranks second in terms of net profit and provides half of the group's net profit (4,2 billion Euros).[15] OFAC sent a request to the bank to "clarify" the bank's business activity in Russia in the light of recent events. Raiffeisen promised to answer questions in several stages during April-June 2023.[16]

In March 2023, Raiffeisen was named an international sponsor of war by Ukraine's National Agency on Corruption Prevention.[17] In December 2023, Ukraine excluded Raiffeisen Bank from the list of war sponsors for the 12th package of EU sanctions against Russia.[18]

Reaction to the War in Ukraine

As of October 2023, Raiffeisen Bank has not left the Russian market. Under pressure from the Ukrainian government and its allied countries, the Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) has changed its rhetoric. The RBI Group will continue to progress potential transactions which would result in the sale or spin-off of Raiffeisenbank Russia and deconsolidation of Raiffeisenbank Russia from the RBI Group, in full compliance with local and international laws and regulation and in consultation with the relevant competent authorities. RBI also states, that in case of a sale or a spin-off, the CET1-Ratio of RBI Group would stay robust.[19]

Western banks are struggling to leave Russia. According to the Financial Times, banks such as JSC Raiffeisenbank, JSC UniCredit Bank, JSC Commercial Bank Citibank, and others are still operating in Russia.[20] The majority of banks stopped further investments in their Russian subsidiaries. However, it is worth noting that Société Générale was able to leave Russia and sell its assets to Rosbank. That resulted in an estimated loss for the bank of 3.3 billion euros.[21]

On the 7th of April, according to a publication in the Russian media,[22] the Russian branch of RBI stopped issuing new cards with the package “salary”. The official bank comment was that this decision was based on “the market analysis”. However, this could also be a result of the change in rhetoric and statement about reduction of services made earlier.

The next day, the National Bank of Ukraine released a statement commenting on the RBI press release. The NBU pointed out that they see a positive shift in the rhetoric, however, they also acknowledge the lack of a specific plan that will further reduce RBI operations and presence in Russia and lead to the spin-off. On the other hand, the NBU pointed out the systematic contribution of RBI’s subsidiary in Ukraine - Raiffeisen Bank Aval JSC, to the country's financial stability during the raging war.

According to Reuters, one of the senior Raiffeisen executives said that they are negotiating a selling deal for the Russian branch with two potential buyers. However, the spin-off itself could take up to seven months.

Austria had wanted Raiffeisen Bank International removed from the Ukraine blacklist in return for signing off on the latest EU sanctions package against Russia. [23]

Locations

  • Asia:
    • China
    • India
    • Singapore
    • South Korea
    • Vietnam
    • Japan (in cooperation with Mizuho Bank)
  • Americas

Former locations

Belarus

In June 2020, Raiffeisen Bank International arranged Belarusian government bonds worth over €1.4 billion. By then, opposition Belarusian presidential candidates, demonstrators, and journalists had been arrested by the regime of Alexander Lukashenko amid mass protests. Pavel Latushko of the opposition Coordination Council accused RBI of supporting the dictatorship of Lukashenko, calling on RBI subsidiary Priorbank to end its business relationships with Belarusian state banks and to sell the government bonds. RBI rejected Latushko's charge that the bank economically supported human-rights violations in Belarus.[25]

Bulgaria

In November 2021, Belgium-based KBC Bank and Raiffeisen Bank International reached an agreement for KBC to acquire 100% of the shares of Raiffeisenbank (Bulgaria) EAD, comprising RBI’s Bulgarian banking operations.[26] In March 2022, Bulgaria's competition regulator said that it gave the green light to KBC Bank, a unit of financial group KBC, to acquire 100% direct interest in Raiffeisenbank Bulgaria and indirect control of the target company's wholly-owned units Raiffeisen Leasing Bulgaria, Raiffeisen Asset Management (Bulgaria), Raiffeisen Insurance Broker, and Raiffeisen Service.[27] The transaction was completed on 7th of July 2022 and marked the exit of Raiffeisen from the Bulgarian market.[28]

Serbia

In August 2021, Crédit Agricole S.A. announced the signing of an agreement to sell Crédit Agricole Srbija A.D. to Raiffeisen banka A.D., Serbia, a fully-owned subsidiary of Austrian Raiffeisen Bank International AG.[29] In accordance with the prior consent of the National Bank of Serbia, Raiffeisen banka a.d Beograd has become the sole owner of Credit Agricole banka Srbija a.d. Novi Sad on April 1, 2022, taking over from Credit Agricole s.a. Paris as the former owner. As a result of the transaction, Credit Agricole bankа Srbija has become a member of the Raiffeisen group. The joint share of the two banks in the Serbian market will be around 12%.[30] After the merger with Crédit Agricole bank, the loan portfolio of Raiffeisen banka is expected to reach almost € 3 billion and the client base to exceed one million. The merger of Raiffeisen banka a.d. Beograd and Crédit Agricole Srbija A.D. Novi Sad is expected to be completed by the end of the second quarter of 2023.[31]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "RBI Share". Raiffeisen Bank International. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
  2. ↑ "Shareholder Structure". Raiffeisen Bank International. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
  3. ↑ "List of supervised entities (as of 15 November 2016 - December update)" (PDF). European Central Bank. 22 December 2016. Retrieved 25 July 2017.
  4. ↑ "The list of significant supervised entities and the list of less significant institutions" (PDF). European Central Bank. 4 September 2014.
  5. ↑ "List of supervised entities" (PDF). European Central Bank. 1 January 2023.
  6. ↑ "Raiffeisen Bank International opens Hong Kong branch (with photo)" (Press release). Hong Kong Government. 10 June 2013. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
  7. ↑ "Ào dì lì ào hé guó jì yín háng gǔ fèn yǒu xiàn gōng sī guān bì xià mén fēn háng, hā' ěr bīn dài biǎo chǔ de pī fù" 奥地利奥合国际银行股份有限公司关闭厦门分行、哈尔滨代表处的批复 (Press release) (in Chinese). Beijing: China Banking Regulatory Commission. 2 April 2015. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
  8. ↑ "History". Nova KBM. Archived from the original on 15 April 2019. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
  9. ↑ "RBI closes sale of Raiffeisen Banka in Slovenia" (Press release). Raiffeisen Bank International. 30 June 2016. Retrieved 1 August 2016.
  10. ↑ "RBI: Successful completion of merger with RZB" (Press release). Raiffeisen Bank International. 18 March 2017. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
  11. ↑ "Raiffeisen shareholders back plan for internal merger". Reuters. 24 January 2017. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
  12. ↑ "RBI: Intention to float shares of Raiffeisen Bank Polska S.A." (Press release). Raiffeisen Bank International. 19 June 2017. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
  13. ↑ "RBI: Raiffeisen Bank Polska IPO to be postponed" (Press release). Raiffeisen Bank International. 6 July 2017. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
  14. ↑ "Raiffeisen Suspends IPO of Its Polish Unit, Citing Weak Demand". The New York Times. 6 July 2017. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
  15. ↑ "Geschäftsberichte". www.rbinternational.com (in German). Retrieved 2023-08-11.
  16. ↑ "Exclusive: U.S. sanctions authority probes Raiffeisen on Russia". Reuters. 2023-03-20.
  17. ↑ "Ukraine declares Raiffeisen Bank international sponsor of war". Retrieved 2023-03-30.
  18. ↑ "Ukraine Excludes Raiffeisen Bank from 'Sponsors of War' List". Retrieved 2023-12-17.
  19. ↑ "Update on RBI's business activity in Russia". www.rbinternational.com. Retrieved 2023-08-11.
  20. ↑ "Western banks struggle to exit Russia after Putin intervention".
  21. ↑ "Leave russia: Societe Generale".
  22. ↑ "Райффайзенбанк отказался от оформления пакета услуг «Зарплатный»".
  23. ↑ "Austria backs EU Russia sanctions after Ukraine removes Raiffeisen from blacklist". www.reuters.com. Retrieved 2023-12-22.
  24. ↑ "Who We Are". Raiffeisen Bank International. Archived from the original on 1 May 2021. Retrieved 22 May 2021.
  25. ↑ "Weißrussische Opposition kritisiert Raiffeisenbank International" (Press release). Die Presse. 8 March 2021. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  26. ↑ "KBC acquires Bulgarian operations of Raiffeisen Bank International" (Press release). KBC Bank. 15 November 2021. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
  27. ↑ "Belgium's KBC Bank gets antitrust nod to buy Raiffeisenbank Bulgaria" (Press release). See News. 4 March 2022. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
  28. ↑ "KBC completes acquisition of Raiffeisen Bank International's Bulgarian operations" (Press release). KBC group. 7 July 2022. Retrieved 25 August 2022.
  29. ↑ "Crédit Agricole S.A. announces the signing of an agreement for the sale of its Serbian subsidiary Crédit Agricole Srbija A.D." (Press release). KBC Bank. 5 August 2021. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
  30. ↑ "Raiffeisen banka a.d. Beograd - owner of Credit Agricole banka Srbija a.d. Novi Sad" (Press release). National Bank of Serbia. 1 April 2022. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
  31. ↑ "Raiffeisen Banka a.d. Beograd successfully closed acquisition of Crédit Agricole Srbija A.D. Novi Sad" (Press release). Raiffeisen banka. 1 April 2022. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
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