The restructuring of Italy's UniCredit will keep the group's eastern Europe experts in Vienna, the head of the Austrian National Bank, Ewald Nowotny, said on December 14. UniCredit said last month it was slashing its workforce by 14 percent and was looking to restructure or sell businesses in Austria and Italy, as it seeks to bolster its finances without asking shareholders for cash.
Bank Austria runs most of UniCredit's business in central and eastern Europe, but a contract keeping the business in Vienna runs out in March. Nowotny, however, said those jobs would stay put rather than move to Milan.
"The eastern Europe competence will definitely stay in Austria," Nowotny told reporters after a news conference on a regular review of Austria by the International Monetary Fund.
UniCredit has, however, held talks with US private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management, which with GoldenTree Asset Management owns a majority of Austrian lender BAWAG PSK, about selling Bank Austria's retail arm.
Bank Austria's retail business has around 220 branches and employs 9,200 people in Austria.
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