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Österreichischer Sparkassenverband

The Austrian Savings Banks Association represents the interests of Austrian savings banks and their subsidiaries.

Lobbying Activity

Meeting with Ralf Seekatz (Member of the European Parliament)

4 Nov 2025 · Spar- und Investitionsunion

Meeting with Sirpa Pietikäinen (Member of the European Parliament)

4 Nov 2025 · Financial literacy

Meeting with Auke Zijlstra (Member of the European Parliament)

7 Oct 2025 · Omnibus, digital euro, instant payments, open finance

Response to European Affordable Housing Plan

3 Jun 2025

For the Austrian Savings Banks Association, the Affordable Housing Initiative is a very important one. The lack of affordable housing is an increasing challenge for society. Therefore, we support the European Commission in the development of this strategy and submit our recommendations based on the expertise of our members and their subsidiaries in the file attached.
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Meeting with Magnus Brunner (Commissioner)

20 Mar 2025 · Competitiveness and security in the Austrian banking sector

Meeting with Aurore Lalucq (Member of the European Parliament)

20 Mar 2025 · CMDI - RIS- Digital Euro

Austrian Savings Banks urge clarity on green bond templates

28 Jan 2025
Topic — Establishing standard voluntary disclosure templates for green and sustainability-linked bonds.
Message — The association requests a concrete specification of the term correction for updates. They suggest templates support portfolio approach reporting instead of ISIN level reporting.12
Why — This would allow banks to maintain their existing portfolio-based internal reporting frameworks.34
Impact — Investors lose access to granular data associated with specific individual green bonds.5
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Meeting with Didier Millerot (Head of Unit Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union) and Bundesverband deutscher Banken e.V. and

16 Jan 2025 · Upcoming topics in sustainable finance

Meeting with Markus Ferber (Member of the European Parliament)

3 Dec 2024 · Current state of play in the banking sector

Austrian savings banks: finance alone cannot drive building renovations

23 Oct 2024
Topic — Creating a voluntary portfolio framework to increase lending for energy-efficient building renovations.
Message — The association argues that banks are enablers rather than the sole drivers of the green transition. They call for better building data access and simplified taxonomy rules to make renovation lending viable. Policy must focus on real economy dynamics to create a strong business case for private investment.12
Why — Standardized building data and simplified rules would reduce administrative burdens and support product development.34
Impact — Vulnerable tenants face increased financial pressure if landlords pass on renovation costs via rents.56
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Meeting with Florian Denis (Cabinet of Commissioner Mairead Mcguinness) and European Savings and Retail Banking Group and

21 Feb 2024 · important files until end of mandate: CMDI, RIS, digital euro, PSR/PSD

Meeting with Othmar Karas (Member of the European Parliament)

9 Feb 2024 · Miscellaneous

Meeting with Eva-Maria Alexandrova Poptcheva (Member of the European Parliament, Committee chair)

29 Nov 2023 · Meeting regarding the Retail Investment Strategy legislation

Meeting with Eero Heinäluoma (Member of the European Parliament, Shadow rapporteur)

17 Nov 2023 · Retail investment strategy

Meeting with Joachim Schuster (Member of the European Parliament)

27 Sept 2023 · Digital Euro, Retail Investment Strategy

Meeting with Gilles Boyer (Member of the European Parliament, Shadow rapporteur)

6 Sept 2023 · Digital euro

Austrian Savings Banks oppose public disclosure of bribery details

7 Jul 2023
Topic — The consultation defines the sustainability reporting standards that European companies must adopt.
Message — The association demands the deletion of requirements to disclose specific details of bribery. They reject reporting on confirmed incidents to avoid self-incrimination.12
Why — This would allow banks to maintain confidentiality and avoid legal self-incrimination.3
Impact — The public loses access to specific data on confirmed cases of corporate corruption.4
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Meeting with Esther De Lange (Member of the European Parliament)

31 May 2023 · CMDI review - APA

Austrian Savings Banks Support Global Benchmark Access

17 Mar 2023
Topic — The Commission is reviewing EU rules for domestic and non-EU financial benchmarks.
Message — The association supports the Commission's plan to ensure continued access to non-EU benchmarks. This ensures that banks and investors can use relevant data from outside Europe.1
Why — Continued access to global benchmarks avoids operational disruptions and technical barriers for banks.2
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Meeting with Andrea Beltramello (Cabinet of Executive Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis)

8 Feb 2023 · retail investment strategy

Meeting with Tommy De Temmerman (Cabinet of Commissioner Mairead Mcguinness)

8 Feb 2023 · Retail Investment Strategy

Meeting with Ralf Seekatz (Member of the European Parliament, Shadow rapporteur)

12 Oct 2022 · Geldwäschebekämpfung

Meeting with John Berrigan (Director-General Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union)

11 Oct 2022 · Sustainable Finance and Banking Union

Meeting with Günther Sidl (Member of the European Parliament)

4 Oct 2022 · General Exchange of Views

Meeting with Othmar Karas (Member of the European Parliament, Shadow rapporteur)

16 Nov 2021 · Reform der EU-Bankenregulierung (CRR3/CRD6)

Meeting with Andrea Beltramello (Cabinet of Executive Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis) and Deutscher Sparkassen-und Giroverband

6 Oct 2021 · Fit for 55, sustainable finance

Response to European Digital Identity (EUid)

18 Aug 2021

We are very happy with the proposed review of the eIDAS framework and are looking forward to its adoption. One comment we would like to make is that we believe the planned eID wallets could potentially be linked to or simply be the same as the wallets that will eventually hold the Digital Euro. By combining them, we would not only decrease costs and work time for creating separate wallets and then enabling interoperability after the fact, we would also create potential new benefits and business cases, as well as ensuring adequate consumer protection / utilizing the eID to safeguard the Digital Euro against potential cases of fraud and money-laundering.
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Austrian Savings Banks urge modernization of EU VAT rules

19 Nov 2020
Topic — The Commission is reviewing VAT rules for financial services to address complexity and legal uncertainty.
Message — The organization requests that outsourced services like cost-sharing arrangements remain tax-neutral. They also emphasize maintaining the current VAT exemption for managing investment funds to protect small investors.12
Why — Maintaining these tax exemptions prevents additional financial burdens and eliminates competitive disadvantages for European banks.34
Impact — Private investors would face significantly higher costs if investment fund management fees became subject to VAT.5
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Meeting with Jan Ceyssens (Cabinet of Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis)

7 Nov 2018 · Banking regulation and proportionality

Austrian Savings Banks reject fee caps for non-euro payments

14 Jul 2017
Topic — A review of EU rules on fees charged for cross-border payments.
Message — The organization strictly objects to extending price regulations to all EU currencies. They argue non-euro transactions are complex products with high costs, unlike mass-produced euro payments. The Commission should promote new technologies instead of intervening in market-driven fee settings.123
Why — This prevents banks from bearing high processing and liquidity costs without charging fees.45
Impact — Citizens in non-euro countries lose the benefit of lower, harmonized transaction fees.6
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Meeting with Jan Ceyssens (Cabinet of Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis)

19 Oct 2016 · Basel, CMU, Fintech

Meeting with Günther Oettinger (Commissioner)

26 Nov 2015 · Safe Harbour, Regulierung versus Innovation

Meeting with Mette Toftdal Grolleman (Cabinet of Commissioner Jonathan Hill)

19 May 2015 · MREL, BSR

Meeting with Jonathan Hill (Commissioner)

4 Mar 2015 · Introductory meeting, Capital Markets Union, Retail financial services

Meeting with Jan Ceyssens (Cabinet of Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis)

4 Mar 2015 · Presentation of Austrian saving banks

Meeting with Mariana Hristcheva (Cabinet of Vice-President Kristalina Georgieva) and Cisco Systems Inc.

27 Feb 2015 · CISCO: general developments in digitalisation