VIENNA, Jan 24 (Reuters) - Shareholders of Austrian lender Raiffeisen Bank International on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved a planned merger with its parent company, a plan aimed primarily at bolstering the firms’ combined capital buffer. Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI), which operates across central and eastern Europe, and its majority owner Raiffeisen Zentralbank together came third-last in a stress test of 51 major European lenders last year, increasing pressure on Raiffeisen Zentralbank (RZB) to take action. A special meeting of RBI’s shareholders on Tuesday gave final approval for the merger by 99.4 percent to 0.6 percent, with 73.5 percent of the capital represented at the meeting. RZB owns 60.7 percent of RBI and is in turn owned by the cooperative Raiffeisen group’s regional Landesbanken units. (Reporting by Francois Murphy; Editing by Ruth Pitchford)
Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) will merge with its parent company, RZB ( RZB ) in order to increase the firms' combined buffer. Shareholders of the banks approved the merger by 60.7% to 73.5% , with 73.5% of the capital represented at the meeting. Initially, the merger was proposed by RZB after the banks together came third-last in a stress test of 51 major European lenders third-last . RZB owns 60.7% of RZB and is itself owned by the cooperative Raffeisen group's regional units.