Ownership structure

First of all, Steiermärkische Sparkasse is its own majority owner. The owners of Steiermärkische Sparkasse are Steiermärkische Verwaltungssparkasse, Erste Bank Österreich and its own employees. This is a successful alliance that ensures stability.

Successful alliance in detail

Steiermärkische Verwaltungssparkasse is the main owner of Steiermärkische Bank und Sparkassen AG with a stake of 73,8 %, and its primary company purpose is to hold this stake.

In line with the savings bank’s philosophy, a substantial portion of the dividend distributed by Steiermärkische Bank und Sparkassen AG to Steiermärkische Verwaltungssparkasse is used to support charitable projects.

Erste Bank der österreichischen Sparkassen AG (Erste Bank Österreich) has had a stake of 25 % and one share in Steiermärkische Sparkasse since 2000.

Employee participation, i.e. the number of shares held by employees of Steiermärkische Sparkasse, is currently almost 1,2 %. 

Savings bank group

Steiermärkische Sparkasse is part of the Austrian savings bank group, which comprises Erste Group Bank AG as holding company, Erste Bank der österreichischen Sparkassen AG (Erste Bank Österreich) as lead institution, Zweite Wiener Vereins-Sparcasse and the 49 savings banks outside of Vienna. Erste Bank Österreich and the savings banks organised into seven state associations form a nationwide network of 1,154 branches in all federal states.

Savings Banks’ Joint Liability Scheme

For years, Erste Bank and the savings banks have formed a community for the protection of their customers’ savings deposits: the Savings Banks’ Joint Liability Scheme. Under reciprocal liability agreements, Erste Bank and the savings banks are liable to pay out customer deposits far above the amounts protected by law. The Joint Liability Scheme therefore supplements statutory deposit protection and investor compensation as an additional safety net. It is a subsidiary instrument that takes effect when protection is required beyond the statutory deposit protection – for example if a member of the Joint Liability Scheme goes bankrupt.

Our group partners

Besides the savings banks themselves, the savings bank group also includes a large number of subsidiaries that act as cooperation and group partners and augment the comprehensive offering.