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Download this reportVienna as a Financial Centre
Inside this issue
• The Austrian capital is well placed to take advantage of the growth differentials between eastern and western Europe
• Institutions remain nervous about new Basel rules - -
Content
City exploits its position at the crossroads
Sit in one of Vienna’s famed cafés and you may hear Slovak at the next table, Hungarian at another and Russian at a third. It may no longer be the imperial capital to which its imposing palaces and boulevards remain monuments, yet, once again, the city is a crossroads between east and west.
Stockmarket: Old stager has yet to make a comeback
Although 2010 marked the return of relative calm, Vienna’s stock exchange has so far derived only limited benefit.
Banking: Two-speed east causes concerns
One measure of how far perceptions about Austrian banks have improved in recent months is that they have received only a cursory mention in the current media frenzy surrounding the stress testing of European financial institutions.
Alternative investments: A small but lively industry
Austrians are known for their conservativism in saving and investing – fewer than a 10th of the population own shares. Yet the country is home to a small but lively alternative investment industry.
Energy: Gas activity bubbles beneath the surface
The sparsely populated, rural hamlet of Baumgarten, less than an hour’s drive east of Vienna, seems an unlikely meeting point for some of Europe’s most vital infrastructure.
