Austria : Bank levy reform set to include 1 bln eur bill for lenders

VIENNA : Austria’s government is set to announce its bank levy reform on Tuesday, which will likely include a collective 1 billion euro ($ 1.1 billion) one-off bill to lenders in exchange for deducting Europe-wide dues from the national bank tax, sources said.

Two sources close to the negotiations, which are ongoing, said on Monday it was not yet clear how the roughly 1 billion euros, which represent around two years’ worth of Austria’s bank tax, would be staggered, if at all.

A third source close to the negotiations said 1 billion euros was the maximum amount banks had been willing to pay.