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68-466: It was constructed between 1904 and 1906 using then completely new reinforced concrete, and was opened on 17 December 1906. Extension was added between 1910 and 1912. The building houses the headquarters of the BAWAG P.S.K. bank, formerly the Österreichische Postsparkasse (P.S.K.) bank before its merger with BAWAG in 2005. It is located at Georg-Coch-Platz 2, in the first district Innere Stadt , next to

136-480: A "prudential backstop," or minimum common loss guarantee for the reserve funds that banks set up to deal with losses from future non-performing loans. If a bank fails to meet this agreed minimum level, deductions are made directly from its capital. In addition to the core SREP process, the ECB is also in charge of assessing banks’ acquisition of qualifying holdings, in accordance with Regulation 1024/2013, Art. 4. Before

204-524: 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 . BAWAG was founded in 1922 by former Austrian Chancellor Karl Renner to extend favourable terms of credit to ordinary people, as the 'Austrian Worker's Bank'. The bank was forced to close in 1934, but resumed its operations post World War II in 1947. In 1963, it took

272-423: A bank is recognized as significant or when deemed necessary (i.e., in case of exceptional circumstances or when a non-Eurozone country joins the mechanism). Comprehensive assessments require too much resources for them to be conducted annually. Other supervision tools are therefore used on a more regular basis in order to assess how banks would cope with potential economic shocks. As required by EU law and as part of

340-517: A close advisor of BNP Paribas . This group led by de Larosière delivered a report highlighting the major failure of European banking supervision pre-2008. Based on this report, the European institutions have set up in 2011 “The European System of Financial Supervision” (ESFS). Its primary objective was: " to ensure that the rules applicable to the financial sector are adequately implemented, to preserve financial stability and ensure confidence in

408-465: A profit before tax of 470 million euros and total equity of 3.1 billion euros. The number of employees amounted to 2,496. Anas Abuzaakouk is Chairman of the Managing Board (CEO) since March 2017. In October 2005, BAWAG approved a loan of 425 million euros to Phillip R. Bennett , then CEO of the commodities broker Refco , collateralized against Bennett's own holdings in the firm. However,

476-433: A recapitalization plan for 2015. 0 0 0 0 0 ¹ These banks have a shortfall on a static balance sheet projection, but will have dynamic balance sheet projections taken into account in determining their final capital requirements. 0 0 0 0 0 0 Under the dynamic balance sheet assumption, these banks have no or practically no shortfall taking into account net capital already raised. 0 0 0 0 0 ² Taking into account

544-624: A transformational initiative to improve and restructure its operations to improve its financial strength and efficiency. The key pillars of the transformation included re-focusing on core geographic markets and products, driving cost efficiency through disciplined cost management and simplified processes and deleveraging the balance sheet to increase capital and liquidity. As a result BAWAG P.S.K.’s profit before tax increased from €23 million in 2012 to €470 million in 2016, primarily resulting from stronger core revenues and reduced operating expenses. As part of BAWAG P.S.K.’s effort to reduce operating expenses,

612-545: Is divided in two: Finally, Basel III provides additional capital buffers covering more specific risks. European Banking Supervision has been actively involved in the making of Non-Performing Loans action plans. In the ECB guidance recommendations, the SSM, along with the European Banking Authority (EBA), have introduced a new definition of Non-Performing Loans (NPLs) that relates to the optimisation of

680-505: Is one of Otto Wagner's famous works, and one of the finest examples of the Viennese Secession. The building's office space is divided according to the axis of the outside windows, again making use of natural light as much as possible. The interior walls are non-load-bearing, and can therefore be re-arranged according to need, a feature that has become standard in modern office buildings. Spared any damage during World War II ,

748-505: Is organised by article 26 of the SSM regulation (Council regulation (EU) No 1024/2013). It is composed of all national participating supervisors, a chair, vice-chair and four ECB representatives. These members meet every three weeks in order to draft supervisory decisions then submitted to the Governing Council . The Supervisory Board is assisted in the preparation of its meetings by a Steering Committee. This committee gathers

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816-680: Is proportional to the risks they take. This is closely monitored by the supervisory authorities. Since 2016, if the results of the SREP for a bank do not reflect a proper coverage of the risks, the ECB may impose additional capital requirements to those required by the Basel agreement. This agreement provides a minimum capital requirement (called Pillar 1 requirement) of 8% of banks’ risk-weighted assets .  Since Basel II , extra requirements (called Pillar 2 requirements) can be set in order to cover additional risks. This second category of requirements

884-411: Is the policy framework for the prudential supervision of banks in the euro area . It is centered on the European Central Bank (ECB), whose supervisory arm is referred to as ECB Banking Supervision . EU member states outside of the euro area can also participate on a voluntary basis, as was the case of Bulgaria as of late 2023. European Banking Supervision was established by Regulation 1024/2013 of

952-470: The European Commission is in charge of checking the impacts such transactions will have on competition and, therefore, on consumers, the ECB is tasked to monitor the risks entailed by the suggested consolidations. If a transaction includes the acquisition of more than 10% of a bank’s shares or voting rights (i.e., a qualifying holding – Regulation 575/2013, Art. 4(1)36), it must be reported to

1020-476: The European Treaties , non-Eurozone countries do not have the right to vote in the ECB's Governing Council and, in return, are not bound by its decisions. As a result, non-Eurozone countries cannot become full members of the banking union (i.e., they cannot have the same rights and obligations as Eurozone members). However, non-Eurozone EU member states can enter into a "close cooperation agreement" with

1088-521: The Ringstraße boulevard. Up to eight stories high, the building occupies an entire city block . The facade is covered with square marble slabs and aluminum applications reminiscent of a money storage. Granite slabs are attached to the lower and upper levels. The rivets with which the marble cladding seems to be fixed to the wall are purely ornamental and articulate the facade. Since the approximately 10 cm thick plates are kept in place by plaster,

1156-478: The financial crisis of 2008 , an increasing number of banks were merging across Europe. This trend stopped as a result of the crisis: between 2008 and 2017, while we saw a decline in the number of cross-border M&As , domestic consolidations (i.e., between two national institutions) rose. In 2016, there were about 6 000 banks in the Eurozone , most of which with a clear focus on their domestic market. Today,

1224-582: The risks taken by European banks . This process, undertaken annually by supervisors from the ECB and Joint Supervisory Teams, is an essential element of the implementation of the Single Supervisory Mechanism . The aim of the SREP is to make sure that banks remain safe and reliable; that any factors that could affect their capital and liquidity are under control. Today, the capital and liquidity levels of banks are then directly subject to an ECB monitoring system while beforehand it

1292-583: The 130 most significant credit institutions in the 19 Eurozone states representing assets worth €22 trillion (equal to 82% of total banking assets of the eurozone). The supervision report included: Based on these three criteria, the review found that a total of 105 out of the 130 assessed banks met all minimum capital requirements on 31 December 2013. A total of 25 banks were found to suffer from capital shortfalls on 31 December 2013, of which 12 managed to cover these capital shortfalls through raising extra capital in 2014. The remaining 13 banks were asked to submit

1360-729: The Chair and the Vice-Chair of the Supervisory Board, an ECB representative (Edouard Fernandez-Bollo since 2019) as well as five deputies of national supervisors. A division of labour has been established between the ECB and national supervisors. Banks deemed significant will be supervised directly by the ECB. Even though the ECB has the authority to take over the direct supervision of any bank, smaller banks will usually continue to be monitored directly by their national authorities. A total of 115 banks are currently being supervised by

1428-646: The Council, also known as the SSM Regulation , which also created its central (albeit not ultimate) decision-making body, the ECB Supervisory Board . Under European Banking Supervision, the ECB directly supervises the larger banks that are designated as Significant Institutions. The other banks, known as Less Significant Institutions, are supervised by national banking supervisors ("national competent authorities") under supervisory oversight by

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1496-399: The ECB is not new. In November 2016, the ECB wrote in its Financial Stability Review the following sentence with regards to the banking sector: “ Consolidation could bring some profitability benefits at the sector level by increasing cost and revenue synergies without worsening the so-called “too-big-to-fail” problem ” (ECB Financial Stability Review, Nov. 2016, p. 75) This positioning of

1564-422: The ECB's staff, national competent supervisors and experts in the banking field, make the link between the national and supranational levels. There is a JST for each significant banking institution. They act as supporting bodies, responsible mainly for the coordination, control and evaluation of supervisory missions. The Supervisory Review and Evaluation Process, also known as ‘SREP’, is a periodic assessment of

1632-600: The ECB. As of late 2022, the ECB directly supervised 113 Significant Institutions in the 21 countries within its geographical scope of authority, representing around 85% of the banking system's total assets (excluding financial infrastructures that are designated as LSIs such as Euroclear in Belgium, Banque Centrale de Compensation in France, or Clearstream in Germany and Luxembourg). European Banking Supervision represents

1700-405: The ECB. This procedure is organised by article 7 of the SSM regulation (Council regulation (EU) No 1024/2013) and the ECB decision 2014/510. In effect, these agreements imply the supervision of banks in these signatory countries by the ECB. A close cooperation agreement can be ended either by the ECB or by the participating non-Eurozone member state. Bulgaria , which is in the process of adopting

1768-576: The ECB; all other banks are supervised by their national supervisor. A bank is considered significant when it meets any of the following criteria: This significance status is subject to change due to, for example, mergers and acquisitions. In 2020, two additional banks (LP Group B.V. in the Netherlands and Agri Europe Cyprus in Slovenia ) have joined the list of banks supervised by the ECB. Joint Supervisory Teams (JST), composed of members of

1836-621: The EU level was the creation of the Lamfalussy Process in March 2001. It involved the creation of a number of committees in charge of overseeing regulations in the financial sector. The primary goal of these committees was to accelerate the integration of the EU securities market. This approach was not binding for the European banking sector and had therefore little influence on the supervision of European banks. This can be explained by

1904-511: The European banking landscape is composed of banks with a smaller market share at the EU level than what can be observed in the United States. As a result, the European market is said to be more fragmented and therefore less competitive than in the US or Asia. Cross-border mergers in banking would help banks to diversify their portfolio and, therefore, better recover from localized shocks in

1972-404: The SREP, the ECB carries out annual stress tests on supervised banks. In 2016, a stress test was performed on 51 banks, covering 70% of EU banking assets. These banks entered the process with an average Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1, i.e., percentage of Tier 1 capital held by banks) ratio of 13%, higher than the 11.2% of 2014. The test showed that, with one exception, all the assessed banks exceeded

2040-434: The bank had colluded to hide Bennett's fraudulent transactions back to at least 2000, and that the bank owned far more of Refco than it had ever revealed in regulatory filings. In September 2006 a New York bankruptcy court confirmed the comprehensive settlement between BAWAG, Refco and Refco creditors. European Banking Supervision European Banking Supervision , also known as the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM),

2108-531: The bank implemented a new cost management approach, rationalized its business model and simplified its organizational structure. The bank also de-risked the balance sheet, which was achieved predominantly by reducing its exposure to Central and Eastern Europe, exiting proprietary trading, reducing the non-performing loans volume and introducing improved performance management tools. Over the past years, BAWAG P.S.K. has also been able to strengthen its capital base due to mainly profit reinvestment that today more than meets

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2176-420: The bank must further protect itself by increasing its equity reserve in the event the loan is not paid. The purpose of this procedure is to increase the bank's resilience to shocks by sharing the risk with the private sector. In other words, addressing the problems associated with PNPs in the future is paramount to consolidating the banking union, while developing lending activity. The new provisions put in place

2244-529: The benchmark used in 2014 in terms of CET1 capital level (5.5%). The results of this stress test show that, in 2016, EU banks had a better potential of resilience and shock absorption than in 2014. In 2018, two types of stress tests were performed: an EBA stress test for 33 banks and a SSM SREP stress test for 54 banks. The aggregate results of those tests show that, in 2018, both sets of banks had again strengthened their capital base compared to 2016, increasing their potential of resistance to financial shocks. Due to

2312-467: The building is still in its original state and since 2005 includes a museum devoted to its creator, Otto Wagner. 48°12′36″N 16°22′49″E  /  48.21000°N 16.38028°E  / 48.21000; 16.38028 BAWAG P.S.K. BAWAG P.S.K. ( German : Bank für Arbeit und Wirtschaft und Österreichische Postsparkasse Aktiengesellschaft ) is the fourth largest bank in Austria . It

2380-403: The building, such as the portico columns and the central heating fans. The 4.3 meters high sculptures, for the first time made of cast aluminum and located on the attica of the building are work of Wagner long time collaborator Othmar Schimkowitz . The glass windows are partly a work of Leopold Forstner . Through the main entrance at Georg-Coch-Platz the visitor ascends a flight of stairs to

2448-489: The capacity of the ECB to monitor 6,000 banks ". The Vice-President of the European Commission at the time, Olli Rehn , responded to that concern that the majority of European banks would still be monitored by national supervisory bodies, while the ECB " would assume ultimate responsibility for the supervision, in order to prevent banking crises from escalating ". The European Parliament voted in favour of

2516-600: The commission, the president of the Central Bank and of the Eurogroup on a preliminary report used as a basis for discussions at the summit. In compliance with the decisions made then, the European Commission published a proposal for a council regulation establishing European banking supervision in September 2012. The European Central Bank welcomed the proposal. Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel questioned "

2584-566: The completion of the banking union, stalled since June 2022, also includes options for the regulatory treatment of sovereign exposures. The question of supervising the European banking system arose long before the financial crisis of 2007-2008 . Shortly after the creation of the monetary union in 1999, a number of observers and policy-makers warned that the new monetary architecture would be incomplete, and therefore fragile, without at least some coordination of supervisory policies among euro members. The first supervisory measure put in place at

2652-545: The coronavirus pandemic, the 2020 stress test has been postponed to 2021. The results of this test should be published by the end of June 2021. All 20 eurozone member states automatically participate in European Banking Supervision. Croatia , being the latest country to join the Eurozone on 1 January 2023, was accordingly added to the scope of application of European Banking Supervision. Under

2720-551: The disposal of the NPLs by the banks. The main purpose is to integrate the multidimensional framework that the banks use in their evaluation process in the comprehensive assessment by the Supervisory Authority. A bank loan is non-performing when the 90-day period is exceeded without the borrower paying the due amount or the agreed interest. If customers do not follow the agreed upon repayment terms for 90 days or more,

2788-415: The economy. On the other hand, spreading risks across different geographies could also be a threat to the stability of financial markets: one might, indeed, worry of a potential effect of contagion between regions. Such transactions could also lead to the creation of groups regarded as “ Too big to fail ”, which, in case of systemic crises, would require significant support from the public purse. Following

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2856-421: The euro currency, signed a close cooperation agreement with the ECB in 2020. Croatia likewise had a close cooperation agreement with the ECB prior to joining the eurozone. The European Central Bank (ECB) has the leadership in European banking supervision. A strict administrative separation is foreseen between the ECB's monetary and supervisory tasks. However, final decision-making on both matters takes place in

2924-754: The fact that the European treaties did not allow the EU, at the time, to have real decision-making power on these matters. The idea of having to modify the treaties and of engaging in a vast debate on the Member States’ loss of sovereignty cooled down the ambitions of the Lamfalussy process. The financial and economic crisis of 2008 and its consequences in the European Union  incentivized European leaders to adopt a supranational mechanism of banking supervision. The main objective of

2992-454: The financial system as a whole ”. The ESFS brought together, in an unconventional manner, the European and the national supervisory authorities. Despite the creation of this new mechanism, the European Commission considered that, having a single currency, the EU needed to go further in the integration of its banking supervision practices. The idea was that the mere collaboration of national and European supervisory authorities

3060-477: The floor below, where the Post Office boxes and mail sorting rooms are located. Wagner kept decoration in the main hall minimal, using only glass and polished steel as materials. The decorative effect is created by the simple but elegant use of the material itself. The frosted glass skylight is pierced by steel columns , their slim design making them as unobstructive to the falling light as possible. The hall

3128-465: The governance mechanism at stake (e.g. what the skills and experiences of the leadership are). With this communication, the ECB also took the initiative to clarify how it was computing the capital requirements of the new entity and how it would assess the quality of this new body's assets . According to two PwC analysts, the publication of this document by the ECB seems to indicate that it wishes to encourage banking consolidation. This position from

3196-471: The grand Kassenhalle , where customer services are located. The main hall is thus effectively on the first floor. The hall is designed like an atrium , with a large glass skylight allowing natural light to enter the heart of the building at all times. Natural light is not used only for stylistic reasons, but also to reduce the cost of electric lighting. Even the floor of the main hall is constructed of glass tiles, allowing natural light to reach further down to

3264-445: The initial and so far most complete component of the broader banking union , a project initiated in 2012 to integrate banking sector policy in the euro area. The unfinished piece of the banking union agenda is about crisis management and resolution, for which the so-called Single Resolution Mechanism coexists with national arrangements for deposit insurance and other aspects of the bank crisis management framework. The policy agenda on

3332-648: The legislative proposal on the 12th of September 2013. The Council of the European Union gave its own approval on the 15th of October 2013. The SSM Regulation entered into force on the 4th of November 2014. The fact that European Banking Supervision is formulated as a regulation and not a directive is important. Indeed, a regulation is legally binding and Member States do not have the choice, unlike for directives, of how to transpose it under national law. The ECB published its first comprehensive assessment on 26 October 2014. This financial health check covered

3400-505: The management structure or the need of holding more capital especially in times of financial crisis ). These actions shall normally be fulfilled by the following year. In case of non-compliance with these requirements, the ECB can charge a fine up to the double of the profits (or losses) which have been generated (or caused) by the breach and that can amount up to 10% of these banks’ annual turnover . The ECB can also request national authorities to open proceedings against these banks.  In

3468-605: The name of Bank für Arbeit und Wirtschaft AG , BAWAG, or, in English, 'Bank for Labour and Business Corporation'. Until 2006, the bank's majority shareholder was the ÖGB , the Austrian Trade Union Federation. P.S.K. was founded in 1883 as Austrian Postal Savings Bank by Georg Coch offering the idea of saving to broad sections of the population, to ensure the security of the deposits by investing in government bonds only as well as to provide funding for

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3536-462: The national competent authority of the Member State in which the bank is established. This national authority must then conduct an assessment of the deal and forward its conclusions to the ECB, which is the final decision-maker, validating (with or without conditions) or refusing the transaction (Council Regulation No 1024/2013, Art. 15). In 2020, the ECB published a document aiming to clarify

3604-485: The new supervisory mechanism was to restore confidence in financial markets. The idea was also to avoid having to bail out banks with public money in case of future economic crises. To implement this new system of supervision, the President of the European Commission in 2008, José Manuel Barroso , asked a group of experts to look at how the EU could best regulate the European banking market. This group

3672-494: The orderly resolution plan of this institution, which benefits from a State guarantee, there is no need to proceed with additional capital raising. This is the only time where a comprehensive assessment has been done for the 130 banks supervised by the ECB. Since 2014, only a few numbers of banks have been comprehensively assessed by the ECB: 13 in 2015, 4 in 2016 and 7 in 2019. These comprehensive assessments are conducted either when

3740-540: The potential of reducing the exposure of individual firms to localized shocks, studies show that they also increase systemic risks on financial markets. In the attempt to mitigate those risks, the ECB is, since 2013, responsible (as part of the Single Monitoring Mechanism), with the European Commission , for assessing the soundness of banking mergers (Council Regulation No 1024/2013, Art. 4). While

3808-409: The previous year and  after each cycle, there is an individual evaluation. Based on these assessments and simulations, supervisors write a report on the vulnerability of European banks, with a score ranging from 1 (low risk) to 4 (high risks), and list concrete measures for these banks to take. These measures can be quantitative - related to capital or liquidity, or qualitative (e.g., a change in

3876-584: The reason he required the money was that he had lent an undisclosed 430 million dollars of the broker's money to himself in an attempt to cover up the company's bad debts. The very day after BAWAG made Bennett the loan, the irregularities were made public, triggering a number of regulatory investigations. Refco has since declared chapter 11 bankruptcy, making BAWAG's collateral essentially worthless. Austria's central bank and Austria's Financial Market Authority have started investigations. In April 2006, creditors of Refco sued BAWAG for over $ 1.3 billion, alleging that

3944-552: The regulatory targets. Since 2015, the Bank has gradually grown its business by several acquisitions: In 2015, the bank acquired the former VB Leasing and in 2016 start:bausparkasse and IMMO-Bank. In 2017, the acquisitions of PayLife and Südwestbank were completed. BAWAG P.S.K. is one of the largest banks in Austria. By year-end 2016, BAWAG P.S.K. reported total assets of 39.7 billion euros, an operating income of 991 million euros,

4012-474: The rivets do not have supporting function. The use of marble makes the maintenance and cleaning of the facade very easy and inexpensive, important functional element in Wagner's design. Wagner greatly valued the aluminum, material perfected by Austrian chemist Carl Josef Bayer for industrial production. He used the material not only for the rivets, but also for other decorative elements on the outside and inside of

4080-660: The same body: the Governing Council. The Governing Council is the main decision-making entity of the ECB. It comprises the members of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank and the governors of all national central banks of the Eurozone 's member states. The Governing council is in charge, based on the opinion drafted by the Supervisory Board, of taking formal decisions with regards to its supervisory mandate. The Supervisory board

4148-545: The state. After acquiring P.S.K. by BAWAG in 2000, both banks merged to form BAWAG P.S.K. in 2005. In December 2006, Cerberus Capital Management acquired BAWAG P.S.K. for reported €3.2 billion. In October 2017, BAWAG Group AG, the holding company of BAWAG P.S.K., became a listed company on the Vienna Stock Exchange . Largest shareholders are Cerberus Capital Management (35.1%) and GoldenTree Asset Management (25.7%). In 2012, BAWAG P.S.K. began executing

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4216-475: The terrible consequences of the Lehman Brothers ’ fall in 2008, public authorities seem committed to avoid the collapse of other systemic banks. One of the side effects of these public guarantees is to encourage moral hazard : protected by a public net, these financial institutions are incentivized to adopt riskier behaviors. As this opposition of opinions illustrates, if cross-border mergers might have

4284-461: The way they were assessing such transactions, with the objective of being more transparent and predictable. Even though transactions are assessed on a case-to-case basis, the supervision process of these deals follow the same three stages: In phase two, the ECB pays particular attention to the sustainability of the suggested business model (e.g., under which assumptions it has been built, what has been planned in terms of IT integration, etc.) and to

4352-679: The worst case scenario, when a bank is likely to fail, the second pillar of the European Banking Union , the Single Resolution Mechanism , enters into play. Eventually, even though the methodology and the timeframe are identical for banks, the actions to take can significantly differ among them as well as the sanctions. As banks can take considerable risks , holding capital is essential to absorb potential losses, avoid bankruptcies and secure people’s deposits . The amount of capital banks should hold

4420-649: Was formed on October 1, 2005 by the merger of the separate banks P.S.K. and BAWAG . As of 2016 , the bank serviced more than 2.5 million customers all over Austria. It serves Austrian retail, small business and corporate customers across the country, offering savings, payment, lending, leasing, investment, building society and insurance products and services. Two-thirds of the customer loans derive from Austria. The international activities focus on retail, corporate, commercial real estate and portfolio lending in Western developed countries. BAWAG P.S.K. has been designated as

4488-509: Was heterogeneously done at a national level. This evaluation is based on the monitoring of four different areas: In addition, each year, the European Central Bank is, under European Union law , obliged to perform at least one stress test on all supervised banks. This test will be part of the annual SREP cycle. Stress tests are computer-simulated techniques which evaluate the capacity of banks to cope with potential financial and economic shocks . Annual SREP cycles are based on data from

4556-637: Was led by Jacques de Larosière , a French senior officer who held, until 1978, the position of Director General of the Treasury ;in France. He was also President of the International Monetary Fund from 1978 to 1987, President of the “ Banque de France ” from 1987 to 1993 and President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development from 1993. On a more controversial stance, Jacques de Larosière has also been

4624-549: Was not enough and that the EU needed a single supervisory authority. The European Commission therefore suggested the creation of the Single Supervisory Mechanism. This proposal was debated at the Eurozone summit that took place in  Brussels on 28 and 29 June 2012. Herman Van Rompuy , who was president of the European Council at the time, had worked upstream with the president of

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