Mayer Brown advised Raiffeisen Bank International AG as arranger and dealer on the establishment of a EUR 5 billion Debt Issuance Programme of Raiffeisen Zentralbank Osterreich AG as issuer. CSSF in Luxemburg approved the respective prospectus.

Raiffeisen Zentralbank Osterreich AG is the central institution of the Austrian Raiffeisen Banking Group one of Austria's largest banking groups.

The Debt Issuance Programme includes among standard instruments also AT1 instruments which are supposed to enable the issuer to raise Additional Tier 1 capital. Since the beginning of 2014, AT1 instruments structured in compliance with the new capital adequacy requirements of Basel III and the Capital Requirements Directive (CRD IV) and the related Capital Requirements Regulation (CRR) are becoming increasingly popular. The AT1 instruments are characterized by their unlimited term and the possibility to cancel interest payments and to write down the nominal amount of the securities, if the Common Equity Tier 1 Ratio falls below a certain threshold.

The Debt Issuance Programme enables Raiffeisen Zentralbank Osterreich AG to issue debt instruments, including AT1 instruments, at short notice and to react flexible to market conditions..

The Mayer Brown team included partners Dr. Jochen Seitz (lead) and Dr. Ralf Hesdahl as well as associate Markus Brusch (all Banking & Finance, Frankfurt) and partner Dr. Ingo Kleutgens (Tax, Frankfurt).

Inhouse: Raiffeisen Zentralbank Osterreich AG (Dr. Christoph Lehner, Head of Legal); Raiffeisen Bank International AG (Dr. Ulrike Toscani and Dr. Matthias Pusch, both Legal Department, as well as Jörg Liesenfeld and Michaela Domnanovich, both Transaction Management).

Transaction advice on Austrian law by law firm Cerha Hempel Spielfeld Hlawati (CHSH):Partner Dr. Volker Glas as well as Associates Mag. Christian Aichinger and Mag. Gernot Wilfling.