Austria ‘must split’ bad assets from bank

Austria must split off the bad assets of Hypo Alpe Adria Bank International by the end of March or face another capital injection for the nationalised lender, the central bank governor said.

“We need a quick solution, in this quarter,” said Ewald Nowotny, the head of Austria’s central bank, in Vienna yesterday.

“If that doesn’t happen, there’s the risk that there will be more capital needs. It remains a risk for the budget.”