!!!Nationalbank, Oesterreichische, OeNB
Nationalbank, Oesterreichische, OeNB: Since the introduction of the
European system of the European Central Banks (ESCB), the foundation
of the European Central Bank (ECB) and the Euro as new currency the
nature of its tasks have changed fundamentally. As of January 1, 1999
all aspects concerning monetary policy were transferred into the realm
of the ECB by the Austrian National Bank, at the same time the
Austrian National Bank became an integral part of the ESCB. Its task
as amended in the National Bank Act of 1998 (Federal Law Gazette, Part
I No. 60/1998) is "to use all the means at its disposal to
maintain the objective of price stability. To the extent that this
does not interfere with the objective of price stability, the needs of
the national economy with regard to economic growth and employment
trends shall be taken into account and the general economic policies
in the Community shall be supported."
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The Austrian National Bank has the following responsibilities in
implementing the monetary policy of the ECB in Austria: measures for
maintaining stable interest rates and an adequate monetary supply for
the banks, foreign exchange trading, administering foreign exchange
holdings (about 90% of the former volume, about 10% with the ECB in
Frankfurt am Main, Germany) and also administering income from the
common monetary policy as part of the European System of Central
Banks, issuing of bank notes, supplying the Austrian economy and
population with cash and supervision of monetary transactions,
ensuring and providing reliable clearing and transaction systems in
Austria, within the Union and for transactions with non-EU states;
drawing up of economic analyses and harmonisation of statistics as the
basis for decisions by the council of the ECB concerning monetary
policy; implementing and supporting measures for the supervisions of
banks; participating in international strategies of monetary
cooperation and in international financing institutions.
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The OeNB is organized like a joint-stock company subject to several
specific regulations resulting from its special central bank function.
Half of its capital stock of ATS 12 million is owned by the Federal
Government (ATS 150 million until 1998), the other half mostly by
interest groups, banks and insurance companies as provided by law. -
The bank consists of the following organs: The General Assembly
approves the balance sheet and passes the resolution on the
distribution of profits and chooses 6 out of the 14 members of the
General Council; the General Council was responsible for decisions in
the field of monetary policy until 1998, since 1998 functions as the
Supervisory Board of a stock corporation; and the Board of Directors
(management, consisting of the governor, deputy governor and two other
members). The governor is an independent member of the ECB Council
with the right to vote and thus helps to shape the monetary policy of
the economic and monetary union, with the Austrian National Bank
advising the governor.
\\
The OeNB was founded in 1816 as the first issuing bank in the course
of the reorganization of the currency system under the name of
"Privilegierte Oesterreichische National-Bank" and was granted the
issuing privilege. In the wake of the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of
1867 it was turned into the "Austro-Hungarian Bank" in 1878, which was
replaced by the Austrian National Bank in 1923. 1938 saw Austria
become part of the German Reich in the Anschluss and Austrian
Schilling was replaced by the Reichsmark (1.5 ATS = 1 Reichsmark). The
OeNB was put into a state of incomplete liquidation until the end of
World War II and resumed work in 1945. According to the Schilling law
of November 30, 1945, the Reichsmark notes were exchanged at the rate
of 1:1. In the 1950s the strict supervision of money transfers to and
from foreign countries, which had been necessary because of the small
amount of Austrian exchange holdings in 1945, was slowly liberalized.
The National Bank Law of 1955 endowed the OeNB with additional
instruments of monetary policy to strengthen its position as "monetary
custodian" of the country. In 1984 the National Bank Law was renewed
in the light of all formerly passed amendments. Thus the Austrian
National Bank had the following responsibilities, which did not change
significantly until the introduction of the Euro on January 1, 1999:
the regulation of the circulation of money in Austria, the balance of
payment with foreign countries and the stability of the Schilling;
administration of the Austrian currency reserves (about 578 tons of
gold valued at 32.7 billion ATS and foreign currencies worth 245.7
billion ATS as of December 31, 1998), the exclusive right to issue
bank notes (the total note circulation had to be fully covered by
suitable assets to ensure Austria´s ability to pay to other
nations); economic tasks such as working towards a long-term
equilibrium of the balance on current account. After the full
liberalisation of foreign exchange law in 1991 this task has mainly
shifted towards the statistic recording of international payments
transactions.
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Presidents of the Austrian National Bank since 1922: R. Reisch
(1922-1932), V. Kienboeck (1932-1938), E. Kaniak (1945), H. Rizzi
(1945-1952), E. Margaretha (1952-1960), R. Kamitz (1960-1967), W.
Schmitz (1968-1973), H. Kloss (1973-1978), S. Koren (1978-1988), H.
Klauhs (1988-1990), M. Schaumayer (1990-1995), K. Liebscher
(1995-1998, governor since 1998).
!Literature
OeNB (ed.), Geld & Waehrung. Die OeNB im Europaeischen
System der Zentralbanken, %%sup 2/%1999.
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