This Week in Bank Failures

Austria’s Volksbanken AG will surrender its banking license next year under a plan approved by owners this week. The move is part of a plan to turn the bank into a bad bank. Without a license, it will no longer be subject to capital requirements. It will also stop taking deposits and making loans. It will continue to collect payments on its portfolio of loans and other assets. The idea is to make capital requirements easier to meet for the regional banks that own half of it. The national government owns nearly half of Volksbanken since a 2012 bailout. Volksbanken will also improve its capital position by selling its Romanian unit to Banca Transilvania, the third largest bank in Romania, and it will surely seek to sell other assets if it can.