> State Treaty comes into effect
> Bürkle: "The bank will be more efficient and more resistant to crises"
> State of Lower Saxony remains majority owner
> Capital ratio increases to at least 14 per cent
The new and existing owners have taken the last step necessary for the realignment of NORD/LB, and implemented the measures to strengthen the bank's capital as planned. As a result, the bank today received a cash capital injection to a total amount of EUR 2.8 billion which was allocated to the share capital. On 21 December, the new State Treaty on NORD/LB, which was signed by the States of Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern on 6 December, came into force.
The State of Lower Saxony participated in the cash capital injection to an amount of EUR 1.5 billion, Saxony-Anhalt to an amount of EUR 198 million, and Sparkasse-Finanzgruppe to a total of EUR 1.1 billion. In addition, the State of Lower Saxony is implementing capital relief measures to an amount of EUR 800 million which primarily come from the takeover of guarantees for two of the bank's credit portfolios. Overall, this results in a total positive capital effect of around EUR 3.6 billion.
" Our owners have made great efforts to make the reorientation of NORD/LB possible," said Thomas Bürkle, Chair of the Managing Board at NORD/LB. "We will now continue the course of transformation we are currently on consistently so as to fulfil the expectations placed upon us. The new NORD/LB will build on old strengths but will be significantly more efficient and more resistant to crises. We will still have to overcome major challenges on our way to becoming a sustainably profitable bank.”
The bank, the previous owners and Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe had in principle already approved the capital measures back in the spring. At the start of December, the EU Commission declared that, following the in-depth investigations, the measures planned did not constitute aid, thus paving the way for implementation. In the last week, the federal governments in Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt passed the final resolutions required for implementation of the capital measures. All steps were performed in close dialogue with the relevant supervisory authorities.
The capital measures will also result in changes to the ownership structure of NORD/LB. With a stake of 52.98 per cent in the bank's share capital, the State of Lower Saxony will remain the biggest owner. The State of Saxony-Anhalt will hold a 6.98 per cent stake in NORD/LB going forwards. A total share of 26.70 per cent, divided evenly between two trusts, is allotted to the security system of Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe. The new share of the Savings Banks Association in Lower Saxony (SVN) is 9.97 per cent, whilst the savings banks participation associations in Saxony-Anhalt and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern will hold 1.99 per cent and 1.38 per cent stakes respectively in the bank going forwards.
With the implementation of the capital measures performed today, the capital ratio of the bank (CET1) will increase to at least 14 per cent, meaning it will be once again significantly above the regulatory requirements. The capital ratio had been significantly reduced by the end of 2018 as a result of the systematic reduction of the vessel portfolio and the risk provisioning created in this regard.
About NORD/LB
With total assets of EUR 145 billion, NORD/LB Norddeutsche Landesbank is one of the leading German commercial banks. Its core business areas include transactions with corporate customers, private and commercial customers including private banking, as well as structured financing in the energy and infrastructure sector, for aircraft and for commercial real estate. The bank is based in Hanover, Brunswick and Magdeburg and also has offices in Bremen, Oldenburg, Hamburg, Schwerin, Düsseldorf, Munich and Stuttgart. Outside of Germany, NORD/LB is represented as a mortgage bank (NORD/LB Covered Bond Bank) in Luxembourg and also has offices in London, New York, Singapore and Shanghai.
