Brussels, 03/09/2013 (Agence Europe) - On 3 September 2013, the European Commission approved a plan for the orderly wind down the Austrian bank Hypo Group Alpe Adria (HGAA). The Commission found that the plan presented by the Austrian authorities on 29 June is compatible with EU state aid rules. Together with the approval of the plan, the Commission cleared both the aid hitherto granted to HGAA and additional aid that might be required for the wind-down (the figure of €5 billion is doing the rounds, but the Commission refuses to comment). According to the plan the operative parts of the bank will be sold while the non-viable remainder is put into an orderly wind-down process. A sales contract for the Austrian subsidiary was already signed in May and the South-Eastern European network will be sold by 30 June 2015 at the latest. Until the sales process is complete, Austria has committed to a number of restrictions for new business, in particular relating to risk control, thus ensuring that the marketability of the subsidiaries is enhanced and that competition distortions are kept to a minimum. On the basis of this plan, the Commission says the aid granted to HGAA is compatible with the EU crisis rules applicable to state aid to the banking sector.
Since December 2008, HGAA has been granted total aid of €2.85 billion in capital or guarantees on capital, €300 million in guarantees on assets, and €1.35 billion in refinancing guarantees. At the end of 2012, the bank had an overall balance sheet total of €33.8 billion and risk-weighted assets of around €21 billion. HGAA is 100% owned by the Austrian state. (FG/transl.fl)