Changes in the Managing Boards of Raiffeisen Centrobank and Kathrein Privatbank

06.03.2019

As of 1 May, the Managing Board members of Raiffeisen Centrobank (RCB) Wilhelm Celeda and Valerie Brunner will assume new management positions.

 

As of 1 May, the Managing Board members of Raiffeisen Centrobank (RCB) Wilhelm Celeda and Valerie Brunner will assume new management positions: Wilhelm Celeda will become CEO of Kathrein Bank, while Valerie Brunner will head the Institutional Clients division in the Markets board area of Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI). RCB's Management Board will in future consist of Heike Arbter, currently Head of Structured Products at RCB, and CEO Harald Kröger, currently Head of Financial Institutions, Country and Portfolio Risk Management at RBI.

"I am very pleased that we are able to fill these important positions with internal managers. The appointments reflect our goal of sharing know-how within the RBI Group and deploying our specialists and managers where they are most needed and can contribute most," said RBI CEO Johann Strobl.

In almost 25 years with RCB, including as CEO since 2015, Wilhelm Celeda has acquired extensive knowledge in the field of asset management. Under his leadership, the recently defined strategy of establishing Kathrein as the private bank of the Raiffeisen Banking Group Austria is to be implemented.

Harald Kröger joined Raiffeisen in 2004 and is currently division head in risk management. At RBI, he managed numerous group-wide projects also outside the risk area, particularly regarding efficiency, costs and strategy. His extensive experience in leading complex innovation processes will ideally complement RCB's growth dynamics and digital transformation initiatives.

Heike Arbter, an expert in structured products for many years, will lead RCB's business activities. She has been working for RCB for more than 20 years, built up the structured products business from scratch, developed it into RCB's most important earnings driver and made RCB the leading Austrian issuing house for the entire CEE region.

Coming from RBI, Valerie Brunner joined RCB in 2016 as member of the Management Board. Her extensive experience in client business from more than two decades in RBI's Corporate Customers division has been complemented in recent years by excellent management knowledge and a network in the areas of risk, finance, compliance, IT and operations. One of the main tasks in her new position will be expanding RBI's group-wide business with institutional clients.

The appointments are subject to regulatory confirmations and final decisions by the respective Supervisory Board members.

RBI regards Austria, where it is a leading corporate and investment bank, as well as Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) as its home market. 13 markets of the region are covered by subsidiary banks. Additionally, the RBI Group comprises numerous other financial service providers, for instance in leasing, asset management or M&A.

In total, around 47,000 employees service almost 16 million customers through around 2,200 business outlets, the majority thereof in CEE. RBI's shares are listed on the Vienna Stock Exchange. The Austrian Regional Raiffeisen Banks own around 58.8 per cent of the shares, the remainder is in free float. Within the Austrian Raiffeisen Banking Group, RBI is the central institute of the Regional Raiffeisen Banks and other affiliated credit institutions and renders important services in this function.

For further information please contact:

Ingrid Krenn-Ditz (+43-1-71 707-6055, ingrid.krenn-ditz@rbinternational.com) or

Christof Danz (+43-1-71 707-1930, christof.danz@rbinternational.com)

http://www.rbinternational.com