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7
Statement from the supervisory board chairman
The financial year 2015 presented the banking sector with another diverse set of major
challenges. The persistent and increasingly stringent policy of low interest rates pursued
by the European Central Bank had a sustained impact on our earnings situation. On the
costs side, the banking package and payments for the deposit guarantee and bank liqui-
dation fund constituted a further burden.
All in all, not exactly a benign environment. I nevertheless believe that, in spite of all this,
Raiffeisen-Landesbank Tirol AG advanced its development in a positive way. I congratu-
late the bank most sincerely for that and, at this juncture, would like to express my person-
al thanks to Dr Hannes Schmid in particular. As a management board chairman with gen-
uine passion for more than ten years now, he has introduced many new ideas and set an
unambiguous course notable for advanced, far-sighted strategies.
In 2015, important preparations were made for the ongoing successful development of
Raiffeisen-Landesbank Tirol AG, the Raiffeisen Banking Group Tyrol and the Raiffeisen
Banking Group Austria. These three jointly initiated the pan-Austrian ‘digital regional bank’
project. The name speaks for itself, and reiterates that Raiffeisen – fully in accordance with
the motto ‘Regional. Digital. Accessible.’ – is still a regional bank that enhances its service
spectrum with all modern transaction and communication channels. Our customers can
choose their needs and wishes accordingly.
We have been pursuing new paths for a successful future – and not only in terms of the
technical substance. In personnel matters, too, far-reaching changes were prepared in the
upper reaches of the regional bank (Landesbank). I am glad to tell you that in Dr Johannes
Ortner and Thomas Wass, we were able to recruit two outstanding managers with excel-
lent leadership qualities for this responsible task. Both of them embody the basic Raiffei-
sen values and have established themselves in the Raiffeisen sector. In conjunction with
Reinhard Mayr, who has fortunately extended his term, Raiffeisen-Landesbank Tirol AG
has a management board team that is sure to deal competently with all of our future chal-
lenges.
During turbulent phases in particular, it is important that the Tyrolean Raiffeisen banks
should be able to build upon constructive collaboration with their strong Landesbank. The
foundation stones have already been laid. It is now up to us to carry on applying the ad-
mirable Raiffeisen principles and, despite globalisation and digitisation, never lose sight of
the needs, fears and wishes of the customers for whom we render all of our services.
On behalf of the entire supervisory board, I would like to thank all employees of Raiffei-
sen-Landesbank Tirol AG for their exceptional commitment and their willingness to sup-
port change.
I wish the new management board team a successful start and am convinced that we will
shape a positive future together.
Dr Michael Misslinger
Chairman of the supervisory board
Raiffeisen-Landesbank Tirol AG