Icelandic bank Glitnir has announced it is exiting its commercial property financing business based in Luxembourg as part of a major realignment of the group's corporate banking operations in Europe. Glitnir said running down a substantial part of its real-estate loan portfolio in Luxembourg would entail repayment of outstanding real-estate loans to Glitnir, freeing up liquidity of up to EUR 1bn.
Icelandic bank Glitnir has announced it is exiting its commercial property financing business based in Luxembourg as part of a major realignment of the group's corporate banking operations in Europe. Glitnir said running down a substantial part of its real-estate loan portfolio in Luxembourg would entail repayment of outstanding real-estate loans to Glitnir, freeing up liquidity of up to EUR 1bn.
Glitnir Bank Luxembourg will focus on servicing its investment management business and customers generated by the bank's Nordic and international operations.
The restructuring of Glitnir's European Banking activities is part of Glitnir's ongoing strategy to further consolidate its operations in 2008 around its core business. The changes in Luxembourg follow the decision to close the Danish operations at the end of February.
'These moves represent an important step in consolidating and aligning Glitnir's European business, thus creating cost synergies and increasing efficiency at the same time. It furthermore shows our flexibility in managing our balance sheet in the current market environment. With these changes, we will run a more focused and aligned banking operation in Europe in the future', said Helgi Anton Eriksson, executive vice-president of Glitnir Europe.
