China in auto power play
It might not shake up the industry just yet, but China's interest in Volvo and Saab is the start of something big in global autos, writes columnist Wei Gu. Commentary
CORRECTED - Austria's BAWAG in talks over state aid-paper
(Corrects second paragraph to make clear Prehofer is a board member, not CEO)
VIENNA, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Austria's BAWAG PSK bank, owned by Cerberus Capital [CBS.UL], is in preliminary talks with authorities about drawing on the state's banking package, a board member of the bank was quoted as saying on Thursday.
"Preliminary talks are taking place with the financial authorities and the central bank," BAWAG board member Regina Prehofer told daily Wirtschaftsblatt in an interview.
The paper said the bank was looking for 300 million euros to 400 million in aid, raising its tier 1 ratio to over 10 percent from around 8.6 at present. Ten percent has become the new informal rate capital markets are expecting from European banks.
A BAWAG spokeswoman said the newspaper's figure made sense but no sum had been decided on as talks were in early stages. A decision may come in the next few weeks, she said.
The paper said it was unlikely BAWAG would get the money this year.
Austria's banking stability package, which is expected to gain European Union approval this week, has earmarked 15 billion euros ($19 billion) for capital injections.
Erste Group Bank (ERST.VI) is seeking up to 2.7 billion euros from the package, while UniCredit SpA's (CRDI.MI) Bank Austria, cooperative Volksbank and RZB, and Hypo Group Alpe Adria have also said they may tap the fund. (Reporting by Sylvia Westall; Editing by David Holmes and Jon Loades-Carter)
