Banking: Raiffeisen merger raises more questions than answers

Karl Sevelda, chief executive of RBI, makes little secret of the fact he will be glad to bring his banking career to an end

On January 24, shareholders of Raiffeisen Bank International will vote on whether or not to merge the Austrian lender with its majority owner, Raiffeisen Zentralbank. 

In essence the transaction, first mooted six years ago, is a relatively simple one. It will combine RBI, a regional lender with assets of €114 billion and operations in 13 countries across central and eastern Europe, with a holding company that also owns a handful of much smaller businesses in Austria and beyond.