Headquarters of NRW.Bank in Düsseldorf
Headquarters of NRW.Bank in Münster

NRW.Bank (incorporated as NRW.BANK) is the state development bank[3] of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) based in Düsseldorf and Münster. Its status is that of a public agency. It is owned by the North Rhine-Westphalia state[4] and supports its structural policy.

History

NRW.Bank was separated from WestLB in 2002.[5]

In 2015, NRW.Bank was included in a European Central Bank list of European institutions and national agencies whose bonds would be eligible for the ECB to buy alongside sovereign debt.[6]

Assignment

The bank was assigned to act as a community development financial institution.[7]

Activities

The bank hands out development loans and manages refinancing. Attracting strong criticism, the bank used Credit Default Swaps (CDS).[8] The refinancing by CDS, though thought to be safe by the bank,[9] was illegal.[10]

Controversy

In April 2015, NRW.Bank filed a lawsuit against Austrian "bad bank" Heta Asset Resolution AG for failing to pay €275.5 million in bonds following the suspension of its debt, imposed by Austrian financial regulators.[11] The North Rhine-Westphalia state government subsequently asked German finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble to intervene and "to do what is politically and legally possible so that contracts or commitments are met."[12]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Company Overview of NRW.BANK". Bloomberg Business. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
  2. ^ "Executive bodies of NRW.BANK". NRW.BANK. Archived from the original on 2019-02-20. Retrieved 2019-02-19.
  3. ^ To be compared with US Community development bank
  4. ^ "Owner structure". NRW.BANK. Archived from the original on 2015-12-22. Retrieved 2015-12-16.
  5. ^ James Wilson (September 26, 2011), Finance industry: Demise of WestLB is a sign of changing times Financial Times.
  6. ^ Marc Jones (March 5, 2015), ECB will "gradually" lend back government bonds it buys Reuters.
  7. ^ "Satzung der NRW.Bank vom 24. September 2015" (in German).
  8. ^ "NRW.Bank wegen Kapitalanlagen in der Kritik" (in German). Handelsblatt. 2012-03-26.
  9. ^ (in German) "Diese CDS "referenzieren überwiegend auf Staaten und befinden sich nahezu ausschließlich im sehr guten und guten Investment Grade-Bereich. Mit einer Inanspruchnahme wird derzeit nicht gerechnet" in NRW.Bank, Financial report 2013,page 106
  10. ^ (in German) VGH NRW, Urteil vom 13. Dezember 2011, Az: VGH 11/10
  11. ^ Jonathan Gould, Andreas Kroener and Maria Sheahan (April 14, 2015), Germany's NRW Bank sues over Austrian bad bank bonds Reuters.
  12. ^ Matthias Inverardi (April 16, 2015), German state asks Schaeuble to intervene in Heta case Reuters.

External links