Austrian Bad Bank Heta Debt Cut Won’t Be Negotiated: FMA
By Boris Groendahl - 11/mar/2015 12:46:40
(Bloomberg) -- Austria’s Finanzmarktaufsicht regulator will impose losses on “bad bank” Heta Asset Resolution AG’s creditors once it knows how much is needed because it’s not entitled to negotiate a voluntary debt deal.
The FMA, which took over Heta’s wind-down and ordered a debt moratorium on March 1 when the Austrian government pulled its support, will evaluate Heta’s assets and draft a resolution plan over the next 12 months, its two co-heads told journalists in Vienna on Wednesday. The capital shortfall that results will be applied to equity, junior and senior debt according to European bank resolution laws, the FMA said.
“We’re not negotiating with creditors about their possible contribution,” FMA’s Klaus Kumpfmueller said. “What we’re doing is a process to determine how much creditor contribution is needed, and that amount will be imposed by decree.”
After Austria ruled out more support for the bad bank of failed Hypo Alpe-Adria-Bank International AG, it’s on track to become the first institution that forces bondholders to share losses under new powers set out in European Union and Austrian bank laws. The FMA has ordered a 15-month debt moratorium while it plans the resolution of Heta’s 18 billion euros ($19 billion) of assets.
The southern Austrian province of Carinthia, Hypo Alpe’s former owner, is on the hook for 10.2 billion euros of Heta debt that it guaranteed until 2007. That compares with 2.36 billion euros of revenue budgeted for this year, and the province said on Tuesday it’s preparing for possible insolvency.
Heta itself isn’t allowed either to negotiate a debt cut or buy back its own bonds while it’s under administration, said the FMA’s other co-head, Helmut Ettl. Carinthia or Austria are free to buy the bonds on the secondary market, Ettl said.
Heta’s 2 billion-euro 4.375 percent bond due in January 2017 was bid for at 59 cents on the euro, little changed from Tuesday, according to prices compiled by Bloomberg. It had dropped to as little as 47 cents the day after the FMA took control of Heta.
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To contact the editors responsible for this story: Patrick Henry at
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