Restructuring Plan Submitted to the European Commission within the Agreed Timeframe
- Total assets and risk-weighted assets to be reduced further by approximately one third
- Separation of four legally dependent but organisationally autonomous operating units under the umbrella of WestLB proposed
The German federal government submitted the revised restructuring plan approved by the WestLB Supervisory Board to the European Commission on February 15, 2011 within the agreed timeframe. The submitted plan was based on discussions with the European Commission in which the Managing Board of WestLB – in close consultation with the steering committee – outlined the structure of the new core bank to the Brussels authority. The Bank considers that the revised restructuring plan will meet with the approval of the European Commission.
Under the restructuring plan, WestLB will further reduce its total assets and risk-weighted assets by 2015. This means that, compared with the figures stipulated in the original state aid decision, WestLB will reduce its total assets and its risk-weighted assets further by approximately one third.
In order to improve the framework regarding future partnership options in a potential company transaction, the Bank is proposing the separation of four legally dependent but organisationally autonomous operating units (“Teilbetriebe”) under the umbrella of WestLB. These are: Verbund & Corporates, Specialised Finance, Transaction Bank and Group & Service Functions. Individual units can be incorporated into mergers or sold at a later stage in the context of partner options.
The further downsizing of the Bank proposed in the revised restructuring plan involves financial burdens that must also be borne by the owners, the State of North Rhine-Westphalia and the German federal government, but takes account of the requirements laid down by the Commission.