■
Annual Report
■Company Financial
Operating profit Profit before tax
Profit for the year attributable to shareholders of the parent
Return on equity in %
Cost/income ratio in %
New guarantee contracts issued
Number of new guarantee contracts issued Aggregate guarantee exposure limit, at 31 December
Aggregate guarantee exposure (i.e., limit utilisation), at 31 December
Number of guarantees in place
Premium and interest income Gross claims paid by the Guarantor
Recoveries on claims paid
New commitments issued
Total lending commitments outstanding at 31 December
Of which disbursements outstanding
Loan funds disbursed Repayments received
Increase/(decrease) in net loans outstanding
Total funds used under the Export Financing Scheme
Limit on aggregate guarantee exposure under 1981 Export Financing Guarantees Act Utilisation of the guarantee exposure limit at 31 December
Total new guarantees issued
Bond market — Federal bonds administered by OeKB CSD.Austria — EUR/ATS bonds
DS.A volume of transactions (nominal, internal, double counting)
91 28 22 7.71 44.14 12,063 1,032 50,000 44,446 3,995 242 380 262 12,225 39,143 36,803 12,054 4,788 +7,266 45,499 45,000 38,486 17,108 5,619 249,908 818,153 85 119 91 28.85 47.45 5,160 858 50,000 40,650 3,833 89 333 353 4,971 34,075 31,401 4,441 9,843 (5,402) 41,965 45,000 33,745 8,230 18,210 273,420 813,240 OeKB Export Financing Scheme
Capital Market Services
Guarantees of the Republic of Austria under the Export Guarantees Act
79 93 72 21.02 50.24 3,869 948 50,000 38,508 3,859 190 116 36 4,413 33,246 29,429 2,924 4,896 (1,972) 26,787 45,000 31,658 6,294 17,007 288,347 852,502 78 65 50 13.64 50.45 4,658 1,000 50,000 37,058 3,786 219 147 55 5,948 32,244 28,362 5,026 6,093 (1,067) 54,507 45,000 33,695 12,504 13,205 304,490 919,543
Why does it say
“The Complete Perspective”
on these reports?
The reason is that our aim at OeKB and the
Group companies is always to balance meticulous
attention to detail with a firm grasp of the big
picture, in all its intricacy and interconnectedness:
The export markets and their risk situation, the
capital and energy markets, and the rapidly growing
wealth of news and data.
With this special combination of wide-angle vision
and close-up precision, we deliver services that
help our clients achieve success in a complex world,
serving everyone from public sector principals, to
exporters and outward foreign investors, to capital
market participants and energy suppliers.
– Amount is zero.
0 Amount is smaller than half of the stated unit. Totals may not add due to rounding.
Legend for data presented in this report
Contents
OeKB Group consolidated financial statements 2011
54Auditor’s Report
98Page
Group management report for 2011
42Corporate governance
1 Timeline of the OeKB Group 6
2 Organisational structure of OeKB 8
3 Supervisory bodies 10
4 Corporate governance 12
5 Shareholders and share capital 14
6 Supervisory Board report 15
Portrait of the OeKB Group
1 Services for exports and outward foreign investment 16
2 Capital Market Services 27
3 Energy Market Services 35
4 Information Services and IT Services 37
5 Sustainability at OeKB 39
Letter from the Executive Board
Dear Reader
2011 was a year of two distinct periods. While the first half of the year still saw a robust global economic trend, the second was marked by the challenges of the banking, debt and economic crisis. As a consequence, growth also weakened in emerging markets, the recent main drivers of world economic growth.
It is gratifying to report that Austria’s export industry proved its resilience in this difficult environment by boosting the country’s exports to a new all-time high. The companies of the OeKB Group supported this strong performance with their well-proven services.
In the insurance system managed for the Republic of Austria, OeKB generated a revenue surplus of EUR 139 million in 2011, with an aggregate guarantee exposure of EUR 37.1 billion at the end of the year. The OeKB Group’s private credit insurance companies — market leader PRISMA Kredit-versicherungs-AG and emerging-markets specialist OeKB Versicherung AG — generated impressive revenue growth, and the Group subsidiaries “Österreichischer Exportfonds” GmbH (a lender to small and medium-sized exporters) and Oesterreichische Entwicklungsbank AG (Austria’s official develop-ment bank) built up their loan portfolios.
In the Capital Markets business segment, OeKB further expanded its financial markets “logistics” services and adjusted them to meet new legal requirements.
Times of crisis tend to give businesses a keener awareness of the value of good information in decision-making: This is evident in the growing demand for the offering of OeKB’s Information Services — specifically, for information broking and research services and the trusted Thomson Reuters & OeKB Business Climate Index for Central and Eastern Europe.
In parallel with this Annual Report, we also publish the Export Services — Annual Review and the Sustainability Report of the OeKB Group. They provide useful numbers, data and facts on our services for the export industry and document how we practice our commitment to corporate environmental and social responsibility.
■ 1946
Oesterreichische Kontrollbank AG
founded by
Austrian commercial banks
■ 1989
PRISMA Kreditversicherungs-AG
founded
■ 1992
Notification office under the Capital Markets Act
■ 1995
Determination of issue prices for Austrian treasury bills
■ 1996
OeKB Business Services GmbH
Founding of this IT subsidiary
■ 1996
New business segment: Information Services –launch of
FINECON,the finance and economics database
■ 1998
Online Press Review for financial institutions (with partner Austria Presse Agentur)
■ 1998
OeKB’s ownership of “Österreichischer Exportfonds” GmbH increased to 70%
1946–1955 1956–1988
■ 1946
First Austrian treasury bills are issued
■ 1949
Clearing agent for the Vienna Stock Exchange
■ 1950
“Österreichischer Exportfonds” GmbH
founded
■ 1950
Management of Austrian government export guarantees
as Austria’s official export credit agency
■ 1953
Organisation and administration of domestic bond issues
■ 1954
OeKB joins the Berne Union
(International Union of Credit and Investment Insurers)
1989–1999
■ 1956
First Austrian federal government bond
■ 1960
Export Financing Scheme
■ 1964
First long-term export loan bond
■ 1965
Assumes role of
central securities depository
Known today as CSD.Austria
■ 1982 Scheme “Althaussanierung”
■ 1985 Scheme “Wohnhaussanierung”
■ 1986
OeKB begins to set the coupon for floating-rate Austrian treasury bills
■ 1987
Introduction of auction for federal bonds
In its present form since 1991
■ 1988
Depository for
money market treasury bills
■ 1988
■ 2008
Oesterreichische
Entwicklungsbank AG (OeEB)
founded as Austria’s official development bank
2000–2004 2005–2007
■ 2004
CCP Austria Abwicklungsstelle für Börsengeschäfte GmbH (CCP.A)
Co-founded with Vienna Stock Exchange
■ 2004
ECRA Emission Certificate Registry Austria GmbH
Co-founded
■ 2001
Energy Market Services
Financial clearing und risk management for the energy market
■ 2001
ISO 14001 and EMAS certifications
■ 2002
Launch of South Eastern Europe activities in credit insurance
■ 2003
Information Broking
providing analysis of market potential and of industries for international companies
■ 2008–2011
Oesterreichische Clearingbank AG
operated by OeKB
■ 2008
Carbon Emission Trading Services
■ 2008
OeKB EH Beteiligungs- und Management AG
Founding of the credit insurance joint venture holding company with Euler Hermes Kreditversicherungs-AG
■ 2009 AGM Services
Designing, organisation and running of shareholder meetings
■ 2009–2010
Corporate Liquidity Support Act (ULSG)
Existing guarantees will be serviced until the end 2015
2008–2011
■ 2005
OeKB Versicherung AG
founded as the credit insurer specialising in emerging markets
■ 2005
OeKB Sustainability Fund Index (OeSFX)
World’s first index for sustainable equity funds
■ 2006 OeMAG
Abwicklungsstelle für Ökostrom AG
Co-founding of this operator of Austria’s market for green electricity
■ 2007
Issuer Information Center (IIC)
set up as central source of information on Austrian issuers
■ 2007
“CEE Business Climate Index”
for Central and Eastern Europe, with Thomson Reuters
Executive Board
Johannes Attems (born 5 October 1947)
Member of the Executive Board [since 1 June 1988]
Bank and Business Information EDP Systems and Organisation
International Finance
Capital Market Services Personnel Department Bond Market and
Notification Office under the Capital Markets Act
Rudolf Scholten (born 3 November 1955)
Member of the Executive Board [since 1 May 1997]
Controlling, Reporting and Payments Export Guarantees — Claims Management Export Guarantees —
International Relations and Services Export Guarantees — Project Underwriting Credit Department
Organisation, Construction, Environmental Issues and Security Project and Environmental Analyses Accounting
Guarantees for Export Acceptance Credits
The Executive Board is collectively responsible for Internal Audit/Group Internal Audit Risk Controlling Department
Secretariat of the Executive Board/Public Relations Legal Affairs
The employment contract of Johannes Attems runs until 31 December 2014; that of Rudolf Scholten runs until 30 April 2017.
Senior officers
Bank and Business Information Angèle Eickhoff, Head of Department Jutta Leitner, Deputy Head of Department Controlling, Reporting and Payments Robert Anderl, Head of Department Michael Meier, Deputy Head of Department Export Guarantees — Claims Management Christine Dangl, Head of Department Peter Gaspari, Deputy Head of Department Norbert Wokusch, Deputy Head of Department Export Guarantees —
International Relations and Services Sylvia Doritsch-Isepp, Head of Department Gerhard Kinzelberger, Deputy Head of Department Heidemarie Ptacnik
Export Guarantees — Project Underwriting Ferdinand Schipfer, Head of Department Erwin Marchhart, Deputy Head of Department Karin Roitner, Deputy Head of Department Johannes Pflügl
EDP Systems and Organisation Lech Ledóchowski, Head of Department Franz Macsek, Deputy Head of Department Manfred Heppe
Michael Nedved International Finance
Waltraut Burghardt, Head of Department Anton Ebner, Deputy Head of Department Anish Gupta
Elisabeth Schneider Monika Seitelberger
Internal Audit/Group Internal Audit Karl Sterrer, Head of Department
Gottfried Stocker, Deputy Head of Department
Capital Market Services Georg Zinner, Head of Department
Christian Körbler, Deputy Head of Department Wolfgang Aubrunner
Peter Felsinger Norbert Leitgeb Gerhard Mayer Credit Department
Dieter Nell, Head of Department Harald Klee, Deputy Head of Department Ilse Czermak
Hans-Rainer Miehl Public Relations Peter Gumpinger
Organisation, Construction, Environmental Issues and Security Eveline Balogh, Head of Department
Thomas Bammer, Deputy Head of Department Personnel Department
Josef Feldhofer, Head of Department
Martina Ganzera-Veraszto, Deputy Head of Department Project and Environmental Analyses
Werner Schmied, Head of Department Karl Lenauer, Deputy Head of Department Accounting
Angelika Sommer-Hemetsberger, Head of Department Markus Schmidt, Deputy Head of Department
Gerhard Polterauer Bond Market and
Notification Office under the Capital Markets Act Erich Weiss, Head of Department
Maria Kucera, Deputy Head of Department Risk Controlling
Karl Heinz Überlackner, Head of Department and CRO Christoph Schwärzler, Deputy Head of Department
and Deputy CRO Gerda Klaus, Deputy Head of Department Guarantees for Export Acceptance Credits Wolfgang Pitsch, Head of Department Ulrike Zabini, Deputy Head of Department
Supervisory Board
Erich Hampel (born 1951),Vienna Term of office: 1 January 2010 to AGM 2016 Chairman
Walter Rothensteiner (born 1953) Term of office: 2 August 1995 to AGM 2016 First Vice-Chairman
Chief Executive Officer,
Raiffeisen Zentralbank Österreich Aktiengesellschaft, Vienna
Franz Hochstrasser (born 1963) Term of office: 19 May 2009 to AGM 2016 Second Vice-Chairman
Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Erste Group Bank AG, Vienna
Helmut Bernkopf (born 1967) Term of office: 19 May 2009 to AGM 2014 UniCredit Bank Austria AG, Vienna
Peter Bosek (born 1968)
Term of office: 25 May 2011 to AGM 2016 Member of the Executive Board,
Erste Bank der oesterreichischen Sparkassen AG, Vienna
Dieter Hengl (born 1964)
Term of office: 25 May 2011 to AGM 2016 Member of the Executive Board, UniCredit Bank Austria AG, Vienna
Friedrich Hondl (born 1960)
Term of office: 15 December 2009 to AGM 2016 UniCredit Bank Austria AG, Vienna
Stephan Koren (born 1957), Vienna Term of office: 20 May 2008 to 30 April 2011
Gernot Mittendorfer (born 1964) Term of office: 25 May 2011 to AGM 2012 Member of the Executive Board, Erste Group Bank AG, Vienna
Heimo Penker (born 1947)
Term of office: 20 May 2005 to AGM 2016 Chief Executive Officer,
BKS Bank AG, Klagenfurt
Christoph Raninger (born 1972) Term of office: 25 May 2011 to AGM 2016 Member of the Executive Board,
BAWAG P.S.K. Bank für Arbeit und Wirtschaft und Österreichische Postsparkasse Aktiengesellschaft, Vienna
Angelo Rizzuti (born 1961)
Term of office: 21 May 2003 to AGM 2013 UniCredit Bank Austria AG, Vienna
Ludwig Scharinger (born 1942)
Term of office: 18 May 2010 to 25 May 2011 Chief Executive Officer,
Raiffeisenlandesbank Oberösterreich Aktiengesellschaft, Linz
Herbert Stepic (born 1946)
Term of office: 3 April 1992 to AGM 2015 Chief Executive Officer,
Raiffeisen Bank International AG, Vienna
Thomas Uher (born 1965)
Term of office: 16 May 2007 to 25 May 2011 Member of the Executive Board,
Erste Bank der oesterreichischen Sparkassen AG, Vienna
Susanne Wendler (born 1967) Term of office: 25 May 2011 to AGM 2012 UniCredit Bank Austria AG, Vienna
Gerald Wenzel (born 1950)
Term of office: 18 May 2010 to 25 May 2011 Chief Executive Officer,
Österreichische Volksbanken-Aktiengesellschaft, Vienna
Robert Zadrazil (born 1970)
Term of office: 19 May 2009 to AGM 2016 Chief Executive Officer,
Schoellerbank Aktiengesellschaft, Vienna
Franz Zwickl (born 1953), Vienna Term of office: 20 May 1999 to AGM 2016
Employee Representatives: Martin Krull (born 1976) Since 14 March 2002 Chairman of the Staff Council
Erna Scheriau (born 1959) Since 1 April 2001
Vice-Chairman since 1 July, 2011
Alexandra Griebl (born 1977) Since 14 March 2010
Anish Gupta (born 1966) Since 14 March 2006 Vice-Chairman until 1 July 2011
Christian Leicher (born 1968) Since 7 July 2009
Claudia Richter (born 1964) Since 11 July 2002
Otto Schrodt (born 1949) Since 14 March 1998
Markus Tichy (born 1971) Since 1 July 2011
Ulrike Zabini (born 1959) 14 March 1998 to 30 June 2011
The term of office for current employee representatives ends on 13 March 2014. Government commissioners under section 76 Austrian Banking Act
Thomas Wieser (born 1954)
Commissioner [1 January 2011 to 29 February 2012] Austrian Ministry of Finance
Johann Kinast (born 1963)
Deputy Commissioner [since 1 March 2006] Austrian Ministry of Finance
The above government commissioners are also
Government commissioners
under section 27 of the Articles of Association (supervision of bond cover pool)
Johannes Ranftl (born 1948) Commissioner [since 1 December 1996] Ministerialrat, Austrian Ministry of Finance
Edith Wanger (born 1955)
Deputy Commissioner [since 1 June 1997] Amtsdirektorin, Austrian Ministry of Finance
Independent auditor
(for the 2011 financial year)
KPMG Austria GmbH Wirtschaftsprüfungs- und
Steuerberatungsgesellschaft, Vienna Certified Public Accountants
The auditor within the meaning of the Austrian Stock Corporation Act (Aktiengesetz) also acts as the bank auditor for the purposes of the Austrian Banking Act (Bankwesengesetz).
Legal advisers Pöch Krassnigg
Rechtsanwälte GmbH, Vienna Peter Pöch, Lawyer, Legal Adviser
OeKB AG is not a listed company, but is nevertheless guided by the Austrian Code of Corporate Governance to the extent that the Code’s principles are applicable. For non-listed stock corporations, “L-rules” (rules based on legal requirements) are to be interpreted as “C-rules” (“comply-or-explain” rules).
The Austrian Code of Corporate Governance, first pre-sented to the public in 2002, is reviewed and revised annually in the context of national and international developments. The most recent amendments to the Code, which promote even greater transparency and reflect a change in the Stock Corporation Law Amend-ment Act, were made on 1 January 2010. The Code in its full wording is available at www.corporate-governance.at.
Cooperation between the
Supervisory Board and Executive Board
The Executive Board provides the Supervisory Board with regular, prompt and comprehensive reports on all relevant business developments, including the risk situation and risk management at OeKB and significant Group companies. The aim of good corporate gover-nance in managing the Group’s business is pursued through open discussion and communication between and within the Executive Board and Supervisory Board.
The Executive Board sets the Group’s strategic direction together with, and subject to the approval of, the Supervisory Board and regularly discusses the status of strategy implementation with the latter Board. The Supervisory Board meets at least four times per financial year.
Executive Board
The two-member Executive Board of OeKB AG is responsible for managing the Group. Its decisions comply with all relevant laws, the Articles of Asso-ciation and the Executive Board’s internal rules of procedure. The division of responsibilities and the internal cooperation of the Executive Board are set out in its internal rules of procedure.
The Executive Board’s compensation includes both fixed and performance-based variable components. The variable portion can represent up to 40% of total compensation. The design of the variable compen-sation policy ensures that the incentive structure is aligned with the long-term interests of OeKB (see note 54 to the consolidated financial statements). OeKB maintains directors and officers liability insurance (D&O) for members of the Executive and Supervisory Boards. The disclosure under L-rule 29 of the Austrian Code of Corporate Governance concerning the aggre-gate compensation of the Executive Board is omitted in reliance on section 266(7)b Austrian Commercial Code.
Supervisory Board
The Supervisory Board is responsible for supervising the Executive Board and supporting it in managing the Group, particularly in making decisions of funda-mental importance. In the year under review, the Supervisory Board was composed of 15 shareholder representatives and eight employee representatives. As a result of an agreement among shareholders, the number of board members deviates from C-rule 52, which stipulates that supervisory boards should have a maximum of ten members, excluding the employee representatives. The membership of the Supervisory Board is presented from page 10 onward.
The Supervisory Board’s remuneration is determined at the Annual General Meeting and is shown in note 54 to the consolidated financial statements. The employee representatives perform their responsi-bilities on the Supervisory Board in the course of their ordinary employment.
The Supervisory Board has formed an Audit Commit-tee and a Working CommitCommit-tee. The members of these committees are Erich Hampel (Chairman and Financial Specialist), Walter Rothensteiner and Martin Krull. The Audit Committee met twice in 2011.
The Audit Committee is responsible primarily i) for the auditing, and preparation of the adoption, of the company financial statements, proposal for the appropriation of profit, and company management report; ii) for the auditing of the consolidated financial statements and Group management report; and iii) for recommending to the Supervisory Board the choice of independent auditors. The Audit Committee is also required to monitor the effectiveness of the enterprise-wide internal audit system and the risk management system.
The Working Committee oversees borrowing opera-tions to fund the Export Financing Scheme; lending under the Export Financing Scheme; lending under section 3 of the internal rules of procedure (related debt rescheduling facilities and purchase of accounts receivable); and the use of the amounts in the interest stabilisation account.
A Compensation Committee is being formed to approve compensation policy and supervise its implementation in practice.
Transparency and auditing
Openness and transparency in communications with its shareholders and other stakeholders is particularly important to OeKB. This priority was upheld in 2011 by the Executive Board and the Investor Relations and Public Relations departments. In addition to other communication channels, up-to-date information on the Group and its business segments is always available on the OeKB website at www.oekb.at. OeKB promotes the development of women in all management positions (L-rule 60).
According to the rules 4 to 6 of the Austrian Code of Corporate Governance, the motions submitted to the General Meetings of shareholders and all documents including shareholder motions and countermotions, as well as the candidates nominated for election to the Supervisory Board, and the resolutions passed at the General Meetings, should ordinarily be published on the website. However, OeKB considers such publication to be inappropriate, as this information is reserved for shareholders. Therefore only share-holders may view these documents and the right to confidentiality of shareholders that submit motions must be respected.
The company financial statements, company manage-ment report, consolidated financial statemanage-ments and Group management report were audited by KPMG Austria GmbH Wirtschaftsprüfungs- und Steuerbera-tungsgesellschaft, the auditor appointed by the Annual General Meeting. The independent auditor’s report is found in the section Auditor’s Report.
OeKB AG is a financial services provider in the Austrian banking industry. OeKB was founded on 22 January 1946 to provide specialised banking services. It has its registered office in Vienna (Company Register Number FN 85749 b, Vienna Commercial Court).
Share capital of EUR 130 million
Oesterreichische Kontrollbank Aktiengesellschaft (“OeKB” or “OeKB AG”), an Austrian public limited company, has a share capital of EUR 130 million. In view of the special functions performed by OeKB, its shares are registered ordinary shares that are not listed on the Vienna Stock Exchange. The shares may be transferred only with the consent of the Supervisory Board.
Number of shares held Shareholding in % Shareholders
CABET-Holding-Aktiengesellschaft, Vienna (UniCredit Bank Austria Group) UniCredit Bank Austria AG, Vienna
Erste Bank der oesterreichischen Sparkassen AG, Vienna Schoellerbank Aktiengesellschaft, Vienna
AVZ Finanz-Holding GmbH, Vienna
Raiffeisen Zentralbank Österreich Aktiengesellschaft, Vienna BAWAG P.S.K. Bank für Arbeit und Wirtschaft und
Österreichische Postsparkasse Aktiengesellschaft, Vienna Raiffeisen OeKB Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, Vienna Oberbank AG, Linz
Bank für Tirol und Vorarlberg Aktiengesellschaft, Innsbruck BKS Bank AG, Klagenfurt
Österreichische Volksbanken-Aktiengesellschaft, Vienna
217,800 142,032 113,432 72,688 72,600 71,456 44,792 44,000 34,224 26,888 26,888 13,200 880,000 24.750 16.140 12.890 8.260 8.250 8.120 5.090 5.000 3.890 3.055 3.055 1.500 100.000
6 Supervisory Board report
In 2011 the Supervisory Board, the Audit Committee and the Working Committee supervised the management and approved its actions, on the basis of the regular reports made by management in regular meetings as well as in writing, and through repeated personal contact.
The consolidated financial statements for 2011 and the Group management report presented herein, as well as the 2011 company financial statements and management report, of Oesterrei-chische Kontrollbank AG were audited by KPMG Austria GmbH Wirtschaftsprüfungs- und Steuer-beratungsgesellschaft, Vienna. The financial statements received an audit opinion as being in accordance with the legal requirements.
The Supervisory Board and its Audit Committee have reviewed the reports presented by the Executive Board on the result of the audit for the 2011 financial year, and the proposal for the appropriation of profit. The final result of this review did not give rise to objections.
The Supervisory Board in its meeting on 21 March 2012 approved the company financial statements for 2011, which were thereby adopted, and declared its agreement with the Executive Board’s proposal for the appropriation of profit. The Supervisory Board has approved the consolida-ted financial statements and Group management report.
For the excellent work done during the year, the Supervisory Board would like to express its gratitude and appreciation to the Executive Board and every employee of the OeKB Group.
Vienna, March 2012
For the Supervisory Board Erich Hampel
1.1.1 Key programme features and background
The guarantee system is based on the provisions of the Export Guarantees Act and the respective regu-lation issued by the Federal Minister of Finance. The contractual relations between the Republic of Austria and the guarantee holders are set out in the general terms and conditions (“General Business Conditions”) for guarantees of the Republic of Austria under the Export Guarantees Act, and in the respective guaran-tees themselves.
Guarantees are issued in compliance with the guide-lines, directives and regulations of international agreements of the OECD, the EU and the Berne Union. Detailed statistics and the legal requirements concerning the types of guarantees under the Export Guarantees Act and regarding OeKB’s Export Financing Scheme are provided in the OeKB Export Services — Annual Review. More information on OeKB’s Export Services is available at www.oekb.at.
Cover for non-marketable risks
OeKB as the agent of the Republic of Austria offers cover for non-marketable risks, focusing on exports of capital goods and Austrian direct investment abroad.
In contrast, short-term revolving cover is provided by the private market. In this market segment, two Group subsidiaries, OeKB Versicherung AG and PRISMA Kreditversicherungs-AG, offer export credit insurance.
1.1.2 Product and service developments in 2011
Until the middle of the year, 2011 was characterised by solid growth in the world economy. The debt crisis in Europe broke this momentum and visibly raised the levels of economic uncertainty, which in turn also affected emerging markets.
In this environment, OeKB provided time-tested support to exporters through its services and flexible cover facilities.
1.1 Management of Austrian federal government guarantees by OeKB
Small, medium and large enterprises that are expor-ters or are investing abroad can minimise their financial risks by obtaining Austrian government export guarantees and private export credit insurance, all through companies of the OeKB Group.
In addition, to be able to offer their foreign buyers attractive payment terms or to finance their own direct investments in other countries, companies in Austria that provide appropriate security can receive financing from the OeKB Group via their own bank.
At the beginning of September an adapted premium system was introduced that reflects the recent harmo-nisation of commercial export credit insurance rates in the OECD. The online premium calculator was adjusted at the same time, so export guarantee customers can continue to calculate their rates quickly and simply.
Since 2011, when obtaining cover for foreign content of export contracts, exporters can opt to have the foreign content calculated as an average flat annual percentage, as the basis for covering transactions that individually may in some cases involve only a small amount of value added in Austria.
As in the previous years, OeKB in 2011 made numerous visits to customers and intensified its communication and presentation activity to further raise companies’ awareness of the benefits of Austria’s export promotion facilities and to help new customers initiate cross-border trade transactions.
1.1.3 International involvement
International cooperation and the Berne Union
In today’s globalised economy, many projects are made possible only by the collaboration of partners from several countries. The dense network of cooperation agreements woven by OeKB with other export credit insurers and financial institutions in recent years facilitates the provision of one-stop insu-rance and financing for such complex multisourcing projects. In 2011 such agreements were concluded with the Development Bank of Kazakhstan and Russia’s Vnesheconombank.
Since 1954, OeKB is a member of the London-based Berne Union (the International Union of Credit and Investment Insurers). This global organisation currently comprises 49 export guarantee and investment guarantee institutions from 40 countries. The aims of the Berne Union are the coordination of international trade terms and the extensive sharing of information between members.
Environmental responsibility
Based on the resolutions of the OECD, environmental impacts have since the middle of 2000 been given increased consideration in the evaluation of project applications and supported projects. A revision of the relevant OECD Recommendation from June 2007 is intended to help drive further improvement and greater compliance with rules in areas such as foreign direct investment and international financial institu-tions and commercial banks. In the environmental impact assessment procedure used by OeKB, the environmental and social soundness of projects is analysed.
The goal of the assessment is to identify weaknesses in terms of impacts on the environment and on people as early as possible, exert influence towards their alleviation or mitigation if feasible, and thereby help to promote sustainability awareness in the target coun-tries. The assessment procedure itself and large export projects are published on the OeKB website. They are subject to a peer review within the OECD and are thus open to public scrutiny.
1.1.4 Business in 2011 Economic situation
Austria’s export industry achieved robust growth in 2011: In total last year, Austrian exports rose by about 11% from 2010. At the same time, outward foreign direct investment by Austrian companies also saw a positive trend, although with regional differences. For 2012 there are signs that export growth is tapering off significantly.
With this backdrop, the number of guarantee and aval holders serviced in the export guarantees scheme at the end of the year under review was about 1,300.
OeKB is also in ongoing contact with prospective exporters and has a continually growing number of direct contacts with potential outbound foreign direct investors: Increasingly, end-buyers do not decide on their suppliers until after they have found attractive financing options for their projects.
The advisory activity of the customer service representatives is supplemented by a wide range of brochures and other written information about the existing export promotion facilities and improvements or additions to these products.
OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises
OeKB promotes the awareness and application of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. Since 2008, all guarantee holders and beneficiaries of aval endorsements in respect of foreign investment projects are therefore encouraged to become familiar with these guidelines and to observe them to the greatest possible extent in their international activities.
The 2011 Update brought major advances in this code of conduct for multinational companies with its recommendations for responsible business practices (see http://www.en.bmwfj.gv.at/ExternalTrade/ InvestmentPolicy/Seiten/OECDGuidelinesforMultina-tionalEnterprises.aspx).
Aggregate guarantee exposure at 31 December EUR million
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
37,460
12,316 45,000
50,000 50,000
New guarantee contracts issued Limit on aggregate guarantee exposure 12,063 44,446 5,160 40,650 3,869 38,508 4,658 37,058
2009 2010 2011
EUR million (except lines beginning with “Number of”)
Aggregate guarantee exposure limit, at 31 December
Aggregate guarantee exposure (i.e., limit utilisation), at 31 December Number of holders of outstanding guarantees (rounded)
Number of guarantees in place
Number of new guarantee contracts issued New guarantee contracts issued New conditional commitments
(i.e., new guarantee offers for prospective underlying transactions) Premium and interest income
Gross claims paid by the Guarantor Recoveries on claims paid
Amounts written off as unrecoverable (all of which have Maastricht relevance) Guarantor’s recoverable claims, at 31 December
50,000 40,650 1,400 3,833 858 5,160 1,618 89 333 353 32 864 50,000 38,508 1,300 3,859 948 3,869 1,593 190 116 36 92 852 50,000 37,058 1,300 3,786 1,000 4,658 2,029 219 147 55 34 910
Guarantees under the Export Guarantees Act Aggregate exposure limit of EUR 50 billion, with utilisation of EUR 37.1 billion
With an exposure limit of EUR 50.0 billion (the limit on the aggregate liability) under the Export Guarantees Act, actual exposure at 31 December 2011 from outstanding guarantees amounted to EUR 37.1 billion, representing 74.1% utilisation. This compared with actual exposure of EUR 38.5 billion or 77.0% one year earlier. Utilisation thus eased by EUR 1.4 billion or 3.8%. The outstanding guarantee with the longest term covers a credit period ending in the year 2043.
EUR 4.7 billion of new guarantees issued
In the year under review, 1,000 new guarantees (guarantees, aval endorsements, and guarantees of OeEB) with a total value of EUR 4.7 billion were issued by the Republic of Austria under the Export Guaran-tees Act, with the credit management aspects and administrative processing provided by OeKB as its agent (2010: 948 new guarantees with a total value of EUR 3.9 billion).
The amounts at 31 December 2011 stated above in-cluded debt rescheduling guarantees for 15 countries in a total amount of EUR 606 million (2010: EUR 673 million).
Claim payments and premium income
Premium and interest income in 2011 totalled EUR 219 million. Gross claims paid (including claim payments under guarantees for debt rescheduling agreements) by the guarantor, the Republic of Austria, amounted to EUR 147 million, while recoveries were EUR 55 million. EUR 34 million was charged off by the Republic of Austria in 2011 as unrecoverable or under debt foregiveness.
In setting the premium levels charged to customers for the guarantees, the Guarantor does not seek to realise a profit but to cover the cost of the guarantee system in the long term.
In 2011 the positive trend of the past several years continued and guarantee programme income exceeded net costs by EUR 139 million.
1.2.1 Key programme features and background
Known as the Export Financing Scheme, this pro-gramme serves to provide funding facilities to banks which in turn extend credit to Austrian exporters or investors and foreign importers (supplier and buyer credits for exports, financing for Austrian companies’ investments in foreign countries, and export accep-tance credits). The Export Financing Scheme is also used for funding the direct lending by OeKB for the same purposes. The 1995 Amendment to the Export Guarantees Act allows guarantees to be issued for untied credits.
Requirements
The credits to banks require a guarantee for the trans-action or right underlying the financing. The guarantee must conform to the provisions of the 1981 Export Financing Guarantees Act and be of one of the following types:
■ A guarantee by the Republic of Austria under the Export Guarantees Act
■ A guarantee by a credit insurer complying with the same Act
■ A guarantee by Austria Wirtschaftsservice Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung ■ A guarantee by an international organisation. In addition, both the rights arising from the guarantees and the underlying receivables (export or other receivables) typically must be assigned as security. The extension of funding to banks through OeKB’s Export Financing Scheme represents an open system available to domestic and foreign credit institutions. They must, however, meet the creditworthiness criteria of OeKB, fulfil the legal requirements regarding the transactions to be financed and satisfy OeKB’s standard conditions for uniform financing procedures. The latter applies particularly to collateral manage-ment.
International environment
Lending under the Export Financing Scheme is conducted in adherence to the applicable rules and guidelines established by international agreements of the OECD, the EU and the Berne Union.
Financing on commercial terms
The financing for banks’ supplier and buyer credits and investment loans is extended at variable and fixed interest rates. The floating rate is determined by OeKB for periods of three months at a time and is based on OeKB’s own average cost of funding itself in the market. In the case of non-revolving loans, the floating-rate portion of the credit is repaid first; the fixed interest rate is applied to the longer-term portion of the facility (base financing).
OeKB also offers pure floating-rate financing of supplier and buyer credits and investments, based on 3-month EURIBOR. Credit to banks for the funding of revolving credit facilities, and of export acceptance credits under the Kontrollbank Credit Line, or KCL (in German: Kontrollbank-Refinanzierungsrahmen or KRR), is extended at special floating interest rates. The current interest rates of the Export Financing Scheme can be viewed on the Internet at
www.oekb.at.
Concessional financing for certain projects
Subject to the relevant provisions of the OECD Arrangement, specific projects may be financed on concessional terms upon approval by the export financing committee. The eligibility criteria for soft loans and the financing terms can be found online at
Foreign currency financing
As an additional way to promote a strong export sector, foreign currency financing is in some cases available: Export financing with credit periods of more than two years can, subject to certain conditions, also be provided in foreign currency at variable or fixed rates.
Supplementing this, fixed-interest foreign currency financing for supplier credits is offered on a CIRR basis.
Developments in products and services in 2011/2012
As mentioned above, since December 2009, the existing foreign currency funding options for banks lending to suppliers are rounded out by the availability of fixed-rate foreign currency funding facilities on a CIRR basis. In a pilot phase now scheduled to run to the end of 2012, foreign currency loans can under certain conditions be made available to banks for the financing of supplier and buyer credits that are covered by credit insurance in the matching currency. In the soft loan project preparatory programme, seven new applications were received in 2011. One applica-tion was presented to the Federal Ministry of Finance for approval. Currently, one project preparation study is in progress and seven other studies have been completed. One project was already implemented on the basis of its study.
1.2.2 Business in 2011
The figures in the next table show the utilisation of OeKB’s Export Financing Scheme by the export sector via banks. At the end of 2011, the programme was in use by 69 banks and served approximately 1,300 exporters through about 3,400 export credits. In the Export Financing Scheme at the end of the year, there were outstanding total lending commitments (including conditional commitments) of EUR 32,244 million (2010: EUR 33,246 million). Of this total, EUR 28,362 million or 88.0% was drawn (2010: EUR 29,429 million or 88.5%).
The net change from one year earlier was thus a reduction of EUR 1,002 million or 3.0% in total commitments (including conditional commitments) and a reduction of EUR 1,067 million or 3.6% in disbursements. The outstanding loan agreement with the longest term expires in the year 2043.
For 2012, depending on the business trend, credit disbursements in the Export Financing Scheme can be expected to decrease by approximately EUR 2.5 billion.
Since the OeKB-operated Export Financing Scheme came into existence 52 years ago, a total of EUR 130.6 billion of credit has been disbursed to the Austrian export industry and banking sector, and credit repayments of EUR 102.3 billion have been received.
The total of all funds used under the Export Financing Scheme in 2011 was EUR 54.5 billion. OeKB as an export credit agency is thus a major issuer of debt in international financial markets.
2009 2010 2011
EUR million (except lines beginning with “Number of”)
Number of banks/exporters involved (rounded)
Number of export financing contracts outstanding (rounded) Total lending commitments (i.e., financing contracts and conditional commitments) outstanding at 31 December Financing contracts outstanding at 31 December
Of which disbursements outstanding New commitments issued
New conditional lending commitments issued Loan funds disbursed
Repayments received
Increase/(decrease) in net loans outstanding Total funds used under the Export Financing Scheme Limit on aggregate guarantee exposure
under 1981 Export Financing Guarantees Act
Utilisation of the guarantee exposure limit at 31 December Total new guarantees issued
70/1,400 3,700 34,075 33,803 31,401 4,971 178 4,441 9,843 (5,402) 41,965 45,000 33,745 8,230 68/1,300 3,600 33,246 32,943 29,429 4,413 257 2,924 4,896 (1,972) 26,787 45,000 31,658 6,294 69/1,300 3,400 32,244 31,868 28,362 5,948 281 5,026 6,093 (1,067) 54,507 45,000 33,695 12,504
OeKB Export Financing Scheme
The bonds of OeKB are unconditionally and explicitly guaranteed by the Republic of Austria and carry ratings of Aaa/AA+ from Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s, with short-term debt respectively rated A1+ and P1.
OeKB funds itself on international and domestic finan-cial markets through the issue of global bonds and liquid benchmark transactions, private placements, structured medium-term notes and short-term money market instruments. In 2011, long-term transactions totalling EUR 3.2 billion were placed in Austria and abroad. Highlights included two USD global bonds and OeKB’s first “kangaroo” bond issue in the Australian market. Also for the first time, bonds were issued in Norwegian kroner.
1.3 OeKB as an issuer on capital markets
Redemption profile at 31 December 2011
Money market instruments 28% ≤ 1 year 18% 2 to 3 years 24% 4 to 6 years 22% 7 to 10 years 3% > 10 years 5%
OeKB uses derivatives — primarily swaps — to improve its funding levels and for portfolio hedging and management.
Regular road shows are conducted to diversify and expand the investor base.
Aggregate exposure limit of EUR 45 billion and utilisation of EUR 33.7 billion
In 2011 the Republic of Austria gave guarantees under the Export Financing Guarantees Act for a total principal amount of EUR 12.1 billion of funds bor-rowed by OeKB. At the reporting date of 31 December 2011, EUR 33.7 billion of the EUR 45.0 billion aggre-gate exposure limit was utilised by guarantees covering principal amounts and exchange rate risks, compared with utilisation of EUR 31.7 billion at the end of the previous year.
Oesterreichische Kontrollbank Aktiengesellschaft
AUD 350,000,000
6.25% Medium Term Notes due 23 February 2016
unconditionally and irrevocably guaranteed by the
Republic of Austria
Commonwealth Bank of Australia Royal Bank of Canada UBS AG, Australia Branch
Oesterreichische Kontrollbank Aktiengesellschaft
USD 1,250,000,000
2.000% Guaranteed Global Notes due 3 June 2016
unconditionally and irrevocably guaranteed by the
Republic of Austria
Barclays Bank PLC HSBC Bank plc J.P. Morgan Securities Ltd.
Selected transactions of Oesterreichische Kontrollbank AG in 2011
Issuance programmes EUR 30 billion, at 31 December 2011
Euro commercial paper – ECP17.6% US commercial paper – USCP2.9% French certificates of deposit – FCD 3.9% Deposit market 1.5% Other 1.7%
USD Global issues
27.4% EUR Benchmark/ Euroshelf 22.7% Medium term notes – MTNs/ Euroshelf 5.3% Samurai issues 2.1% Kangaroo issues 0.9%
Swiss franc issues
Oesterreichische Entwicklungsbank AG (OeEB) is a development bank. Having a public mandate, OeEB focuses on long-term investment financing of largely private sector projects in developing countries. In evaluating the commercial viability of projects, the development aspects of each individual transaction are accorded special importance. Support is not explicitly tied to Austrian investors or suppliers, although the potential of Austrian companies is to be utilised on a project-centred basis.
In addition to the income that it generates itself, OeEB also annually receives just under EUR 20 million from the Austrian federal government budget for project identification, preparation, monitoring and for non-financial project support provided by OeEB that is to generate development benefits.
OeEB’s third full financial year was a successful one. 2011 was marked by dynamic growth and, as a result also of intensified project acquisition activities, the year brought many requests for financing, with a number of deals being signed by OeEB. To cope with the expansion of activity, OeEB hired more staff and further adjusted its internal structures.
At the end of December 2011, OeEB had 22 employees (excluding the Executive Board). The total transaction volume (based on contracts signed) was approximately EUR 292.2 million. Profit for the year was EUR 848,909.87. After transfers to reserves, unallocated profit for the year amounted to EUR 274,095.32.
OeEB has share capital of EUR 5 million, which is entirely held by OeKB. The work of the development bank’s staff focuses on the immediate core activities: the identification, structuring, implementation and management of eligible projects. All support functions, such as accounting, IT, human resources administration, internal audit and asset management have (with the approval of the Financial Market Authority) been outsourced to OeKB on a paid basis. The resulting lean organisation is intended to allow OeEB to operate very cost-effectively.
More on OeEB and its services:
www.oe-eb.at
1.5 Oesterreichische Entwicklungsbank AG – Austria’s official development bank
“Österreichischer Exportfonds” (“Exportfonds”) provides export financing for small- and medium-sized companies via their own bank.
Disbursed loans outstanding at 31 December 2011 amounted to EUR 824 million, or about 3.9% more than one year earlier. Currently it serves approxima-tely 1,550 exporters, with an average outstanding loan balance of EUR 535,000. In 2011, Exportfonds approved loans to 84 new customers.
Since the beginning of 2005, Wirtschaftskammer Österreich (the Austrian chamber of commerce) holds 30% of the share capital of Exportfonds; the other 70% has been held by OeKB AG since 1998.
The company is managed by Carl de Colle and Elisabeth Strassmair. Excluding the management, Exportfonds had 13 employees as of 31 December 2011.
More on Exportfonds and its services:
www.exportfonds.at
OeKB AG holds a 51% ownership interest in OeKB EH Beteiligungs- und Management AG, a company foun-ded in 2008. The other 49% is owned by Hamburg-based Euler Hermes Kreditversicherungs-AG. Euler Hermes is the world’s largest credit insurance group. OeKB EH Beteiligungs- und Management AG was the sole owner of PRISMA Kreditversicherungs-Aktien-gesellschaft, OeKB Versicherung Aktiengesellschaft and OeKB Südosteuropa Holding Ges.m.b.H. at the end of the financial year. However, OeKB Südost-europa Holding GmbH (OSEE) was merged into PRISMA Kreditversicherungs-AG at 1 January 2012.
This structure of the insurance holdings serves two main objectives:
A very comprehensive range of credit insurance products can continue to be offered to the Austrian business sector through a coordinated two-brand, two-company strategy. The development of local credit insurance opportunities in Southeastern Europe is being vigorously pursued.
1.6.1 PRISMA
Kreditversicherungs-Aktiengesellschaft
PRISMA primarily insures short-term trade receivables in OECD countries against the risk of customer insolvency. PRISMA supports companies in their receivables management with its specialised market knowledge of industries and countries. The customers of insurance clients are assessed for credit quality on an ongoing basis and tracked using a monitoring system. This allows most payment defaults to be avoided.
Credit insurance from PRISMA provides a made-to-measure solution for every insurance client: Large companies find that the Prisma Global policy gives them ideal protection, while smaller businesses are often best served by a Prisma Plus policy. Capital goods transactions can be insured through Prisma Invest.
At PRISMA, a healthy and productive corporate culture is considered essential. The three values of helpful partnership, high transparency and strong performance are clearly apparent both in the com-pany’s external personality and, especially, in its internal relationships. The common motto behind these principles is to “Get closer”. To serve its customers, PRISMA gets closer to the markets, com-panies and creditworthiness information in all impor-tant export markets. The values and motto represent a promise of excellence that PRISMA wants clients to experience consistently in working with the company. As of 31 December 2011, a staff of 121 people was employed at PRISMA. In addition to its headquarters in Vienna, the company has offices in Linz, Graz and Innsbruck. PRISMA Kreditversicherungs-AG also holds the majority of the shares of PRISMA Risikoservice GmbH & Co KG. This subsidiary provides most of the insurance company’s credit analysis, for which it draws on the information resources of the globe-spanning Euler Hermes network. This network gives Austrian clients access to information on 40 million companies in more than 50 countries.
1.6.2 OeKB Versicherung Aktiengesellschaft
In western industrialised countries and domestically in Austria, but especially also in emerging economies, OeKB Versicherung AG provides credit insurance for sales of goods and services. Its defining competencies are complete insurance solutions and special expertise in difficult markets. The company’s slogan can be translated as “Simply Superior Guarantees”. A total of 40 people (excluding the Executive Board) work at the headquarters in Vienna and the office in Linz. The market share was held stable in 2011 at 14.1%, which means a top-three position in the Austrian credit insurance market. Despite the deterio-rating environment, OeKB Versicherung delivered revenue growth in its seventh year in business. The premium income of EUR 24.7 million was up 4.1% year-on-year.
At the beginning of 2011, in preparation for Solvency II, OeKB initiated a project to refine the internal control system, as part of the risk management system. In addition to the analysis and documentation of processes, risks and controls, this project also serves to enhance the risk awareness of all staff and to meet legal standards.
Product portfolio
For each customer’s individual requirements, OeKB Versicherung tailors a complete package of receiv-ables insurance. Without extra charge, clients are covered not just for commercial risks such as pay-ment delay or insolvency, but also for political risks. Political risks include, for instance, receivables with public sector institutions, transfer risk (this risk is growing with the uncertain economic situation in some countries), and defaults as a result of political unrest.
The most comprehensive product, the Global Policy known as P6, covers all transactions of the client with all customers worldwide. Alternatively, Single-Buyer cover (P5) insures all sales to a single customer. For individual transactions, such as the first sale to a new customer, a Single-Transaction policy is the suitable choice.
The economic trend in the traditional markets of Austrian exporters is showing a pattern of volatility. Export firms are therefore increasingly targeting emerging markets, where economies are growing more consistently. However, these markets too are associated with considerable risks. This makes comprehensive coverage on the basis of detailed risk analysis highly advisable. With its special expertise in “difficult” countries, OeKB Versicherung will continue to back its clients’ sales into new export markets in 2012.
More on OeKB Versicherung AG and its services:
www.oekbversicherung.at
Thanks to strong revenue growth in 2011, PRISMA not just remained the market leader but expanded its lead. This was despite the fact that writing new business proved challenging in the year under review. Apparently, the business climate which remained good until the autumn, combined with relatively fewer
payment difficulties and customer insolvencies, fostered suppliers’ willingness to absorb default risks themselves.
More on PRISMA and its services:
From its very beginnings, OeKB has contributed in many ways to the growth and increasing sophisti-cation of the Austrian securities marketplace, playing a crucial role in the establishment and progressive development of the domestic capital market, especially for bonds.
This has always been done in the service of the capital market participants, while acting in agreement with the Vienna Stock Exchange and in coordination with the Federal Ministry of Finance and Oesterreichische Nationalbank, the Austrian central bank.
2 Capital Market Services
2.1 Capital market
2.1.1 Issuer Services
IssuerInformationCenter.Austria
OeKB developed a system for the central storage of regulated issuer information, the Issuer Information Center, for issuers whose securities are listed on a regulated market. The core functions of the Issuer Information Center include the electronic receipt, storage, and provision of access to, regulated infor-mation. As well, at the issuer’s request, the Issuer Information Center passes regulated and voluntary information on to specified recipients on an automa-ted basis (for instance, the Vienna Stock Exchange and the Austrian Financial Market Authority). In 2011, a total of 142 issuers used the Portal and sent about 2,350 notifications.
IssuerInformationCenter.Austria (http://issuer-info.oekb.at)is a centralised Internet platform for required and voluntary disclosures by issuers to investors in Austria and other countries. It is acces-sible free of charge to the public and to market participants.
AGM Services
OeKB is a provider of all the processes involved in the preparation and execution of annual general meetings. Large, intermediate and small AGMs of companies in various industries are conducted successfully and smoothly. In AGM registrations, OeKB aims to raise the bar with high standards of data security and integrity.
On the day of the general meeting itself, OeKB, working in partnership with the worldwide leader in AGM services, offers straight through processing of the data from the registration process, attendance check, advanced vote counting technology, state-of-the-art voting methods and stage communications and a backoffice online chat facility with database management. All features and components of the service are scaleable and modular, and are tailored to the size and requirements of the particular AGM. For issuers, banks, proxies and other capital market participants involved in AGM processes, OeKB's AGM Services deliver infrastructure solutions that are efficient, customised and future-proof.
With its broad offering of capital market services, OeKB is a hub for numerous processes required in the financial markets before and after the purchase or sale of securities. For decades now, these services have benefited financial services providers, issuers, investors and the Republic of Austria.
OeKB continually updates and upgrades its capital market “logistics” services. The financial market actors are thus always supported to the latest technical and legal standards.
OeKB is the agent for the issuance of bonds of the Republic of Austria at auction. The bond auctions are conducted through ADAS (Austrian Direct Auction System), the automated electronic auction system developed by OeKB.
For 2011 the Austrian Federal Financing Agency had indicated its financing requirement as EUR 22 billion to EUR 25 billion, a decrease from the year before. Ten auctions with a combined issuance of EUR 13.2 billion were held. Additionally, a total of EUR 4.2 billion was issued through syndicates in January and September.
For 2012 the Federal Financing Agency estimates the financing requirement at EUR 27 billion to EUR 30 billion. As in 2011, monthly auctions are scheduled for 2012.
2.1.2 Organisation and administration of domestic bond issues
3.650% Bundesanleihe 2011-2022/1/144A 4,000,000 First reopening 693,922 Second reopening 770,000 Third reopening 880,000 Fourth reopening 894,540 3.200% Bundesanleihe 2010-2017/1/144A Second reopening 935,000 Third reopening 880,000 Fourth reopening 660,000 Fifth reopening 660,000 4.850% Bundesanleihe 2009–2026/2/144A Sixth reopening 660,000 4.150% Bundesanleihe 2007–2037/1/144A Eighth reopening 740,804 Ninth reopening 880,000 Tenth reopening 724,969 Eleventh reopening 200,000 Twelfth reopening 440,000 3.500% Bundesanleihe 2006–2021/1/144A Ninth reopening 719,262 4.000% Bundesanleihe 2006-2016/2/144A Fifth reopening 556,818 3.500% Bundesanleihe 2005-2015/2/144A Tenth reopening 660,000 Eleventh reopening 660,000 3.800% Bundesanleihe 2003-2013/2/144A Eighth reopening 790,097 Nominal value in EUR thousand Austrian federal government bonds
issued in 2011
Principal paying agent
As a principal paying agent, OeKB was responsible for 338 classes of securities of Austrian issuers in 2011. OeKB acts in this capacity for the payment of principal and interest on domestic bond issues of the Republic of Austria. It also handled the redemptions of 42 other bond issues that had already matured.
MERCUR
OeKB has the mandate from the Federal Ministry of Justice for managing and publishing MERCUR, a gazette for information under the Act on the Cancel-lation of Lost or Stolen Securities (“Kraftloserklärungs-gesetz”). In 2011 this involved the management of 299 securities classes.
2.1.3 Notification office under the Capital Markets Act
In 1992, under the Capital Markets Act, OeKB became Austria’s official notification office.
Prospectus repository
The notification office acts as the filing destination and database for prospectuses prepared in compli-ance with the Capital Markets Act, the Investment Fund Act and Real Estate Investment Fund Act; it also maintains a calendar (required by the Capital Markets Act) of planned new issues of securities and invest-ments. The related reports received are published daily on the Internet without stating the names of prospective issuers. In 2011 the notification office processed about 800,000 reports for the new-issue calendar. The repository database currently contains approximately 30,500 prospectuses (including prospectus supplements/amendments) filed under the Capital Markets Act, Investment Fund Act and Real Estate Investment Fund Act.
Legal information system
When the Capital Markets Act entered into force, the Federal Ministry of Finance and OeKB (in its role as the notification office) set up a legal information system to facilitate the application of the Act. Legal opinions on stock exchange and capital markets law obtained from the legal information system continue to be forwarded by the notification office to interested parties, provided that the Ministry of Finance pub-lished them in abstract form.
The notification office also answers inquiries regarding compliance with the formal disclosure requirements under the Capital Markets Act, Invest-ment Funds Act and Real Estate InvestInvest-ment Funds Act. It supplies copies of the prospectuses filed and informs the Federal Ministry of Finance, the Financial Market Authority and the Austrian central bank of trends observed in the capital market.
As of 1 September 2011, with the coming into effect of the Investment Fund Act of 2011, the functions of the notification office were adjusted in line with the new requirements for the electronic filing and storage of fund prospectuses.
2.1.4 Financial Data Services
As part of its key functions in the Austrian capital market, OeKB offers comprehensive financial data ser-vices. In addition to master and transaction data on domestic and foreign securities, OeKB calculates and publishes data for domestic and foreign funds, fixed income securities and investment performance results of pension funds.
ISIN Services
As the National Numbering Agency (NNA), OeKB on request assigns an International Securities Identifi-cation Number (ISIN) to a financial instrument.
The ISIN allows each financial instrument to be uniquely identified worldwide, something that is of fundamental importance to all capital market partici-pants. The ISIN consists of the country prefix “AT”, a nine-character core of digits and letters that can be chosen by the issuer, and a check digit.
The ISINs are distributed by OeKB in accordance with ISO standard 6166 and are available at www.profit-web.atin the ISIN directory. At year-end the ISIN services were being used by 1,375 issuers. In 2011 OeKB issued 23,191 ISINs, of which 16,404 were for derivatives traded on the Vienna exchange of the CEE Stock Exchange Group (CEESEG). A total of 26,659 active ISINs were searchable in the ISIN directory at the end of 2011.
Since November, a new Internet application enables ISINs to be requested online. Automated requests can be placed through an XML interface.
Securities master data and transaction data
OeKB maintains databases for Austrian and inter-national securities and other investment vehicles. The data is entered by OeKB after careful research, and its up-to-dateness and accuracy are verified by a standardised quality assurance process. Four hundred and fifty data fields specify every Austrian security. Seven hundred fields are available for foreign issues. To enable automated processing of the data on custo-mer systems, OeKB provides customised export files. The export files are made to specification based on a list of desired attributes relating either to individual ISINs or to the customer’s total portfolio. The custo-mer ordering the data also chooses its format and the transmission medium. Thus, for instance, registered customers can also download master and transaction data from the Internet (www.profitweb.at).
Price and rate data
For valuation purposes, OeKB provides the following content through data feeds:
■ Prices of securities traded on the Vienna Stock Exchange (CEESEG) ■ Prices of unlisted Austrian securities ■ Prices of international securities ■ Reference exchange rates of the ECB.
Profitweb
Profitweb is a long-established Internet platform for securities data, offering the following benefits: ■ Master and transaction data on 1,417,212
active domestic and foreign financial instruments ■ Price and transaction data, classification data,
performance and risk indicators, volumes and portfolios of all Austrian funds and all foreign funds registered for sale in Austria
■ Convenient search functions
■ Customisable analysis/reports, at data field level ■ Charting tool
■ Download options for all analyses and historical data.
Fund Data Portal
This central platform enables fund companies to exchange detailed fund data (particularly on full holdings) in the international, standard FundsXML format on an automated basis and to make the data available to business partners, data vendors, investors and regulators.
The main activities in 2011 were marketing efforts to acquire new customer segments, such as pension funds, insurance companies and data vendors.
Fund Processing Passport
Through the Fund Processing Standardisation Group, the European Fund and Asset Management Associa-tion (EFAMA) carefully analysed the efficiency of back office processes. Based on the insights gained, the “Fund Processing Passport” (FPP) was developed. This document is harmonised across Europe and contains all essential operational information about a given fund.
Under contract to the Association of Austrian Investment Companies (VÖIG), OeKB collects and distributes the Fund Processing Passport data for the Austrian fund companies. This service for investment companies is available via www.profitweb.atand is also accessible through EFAMA’s central FPP Portal, in which OeKB acts as one of the five European Primary Providers.
At its website www.efama.org, EFAMA offers central-ised access to all existing European FPPs. With this FPP Portal, EFAMA intends to move a step closer to its goal of creating an efficient, single European market for investment funds.
Financial statement data transfer system
Bilanz Transfer, a system developed by OeKB, allows accounting firms, acting on behalf of their clients, to transfer the data from balance sheets, income statements, and income and expenditure accounts to banks in standardised XML format. The banks in turn use the system to provide analytical feedback to Austrian accounting firms (reports and ratios). The structure of the data and the electronic transmission technology are based on the data transfer specifi-cations of the Company Register.
When the Bilanz Transfer system went live, it was used by Bank Austria and Erste Bank as well as the savings bank sector. From 2010 the list grew to include Raiffeisen banks in five Austrian provinces, austria wirtschaftsservice (the business development bank), Volksbank credit unions and Hypo group banks, as well as several private banks. Further banks are preparing to join in 2012.
Tax data for foreign investment funds
In accordance with the Investment Fund Act, OeKB as the notification office under the Capital Markets Act has responsibility for the centralised collection and publication of the data on capital yield tax amounts (the tax is known in Austria as “Kapitalertragsteuer”, or “KESt”) of all foreign investment funds wishing to give their investors the opportunity for single all-in taxation in Austria. To this end, OeKB provides an effi-cient infrastructure to the fund companies, including the necessary electronic interfaces for collecting the data.
OeKB publishes these tax amounts for currently 19,018 ISINs on www.profitweb.at. The information is also available in the form of electronic files.
In 2012 the reporting of capital yield tax amounts is changing as a result of changes in legislation. Preparatory work for this was initiated.
OeKB Sustainability Fund Index (OeSFX)
A growing number of investors are putting their money into companies whose conduct is particularly ethical in terms of environmental and social responsibility. To achieve the greatest possible diversification of risk, a promising strategy for these investors is to buy environmentally or socially responsible funds. This is often referred to collectively as socially responsible investing (SRI), ethical investing or sustainable investing. With the OeKB Sustainability Fund Index developed by OeKB, investors can compare the performance of such funds to that of the entire universe of sustainable equity funds registered for sale in Austria.
The index is another way in which OeKB practices its lasting commitment to sustainable business. Details on the OeSFX and current prices are available at
