RZB donates tomorrow’s derivative sales earnings to children’s aid projects

Initiative is part of a worldwide charity drive in aid of HIV-positivechildren.

On the occasion of this year’s “Dealing for Donation Day“, Raiffeisen Zentralbank Oesterreich AG (RZB) joins a worldwide charity drive to aid HIV-positive children as Austria’s only financial institution. On 23 September, RZB’s Investment Banking/Derivative Sales Desk will donate the day’s earnings to Children in Crisis and HopeHIV. The two international charity organisations support more than 40 projects in 11 countries. In order to make this special day as profitable as possible, RZB has informed its customers and asked for support for this initiative in advance.

“We want to give a signal with this initiative. Roughly 14 million children in the world have lost one or both parents to AIDS. Many of them are homeless, malnourished and without a chance of education. The donations will help building the future for these children by offeringsome of the security and support a family would normally provide“, says Walter Rothensteiner, Chairman of RZB’s Managing Board. The money will partly go to Poland and Russia again, so that RZB also makes a contribution to those markets in which it has a presence.

The“Dealing for Donation Day” is already organised the second time by the charity organisation Children in Crisis in cooperation with international financial institutions. Banks, brokers and clearers worldwide will team up to donate either a fixed sum or a percentage ofrevenues and fees generated on this day to various Children in Crisis and HopeHIV projects around the world. So far, 10 institutions have expressed interest in this venture. The aim is to reach at least GBP 250,000 (roughly € 368,000). Last year, the first “Dealing for Donation Day” raised GBP 112,000 (roughly € 161,500) for children’s aid programmes in Poland, Russia, Sierra Leone, Ecuador and the United Kingdom.

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RZB is the central institution of the Austrian Raiffeisen Banking Group,the country''s most powerful banking group. RZB is a leading corporateand investment bank in Austria and also considers Central and EasternEurope (CEE) as its home market, where it operates, via its wholly ownedsubsidiary Raiffeisen International Bank-Holding AG (RaiffeisenInternational) a network of 15 subsidiary banks with more than 800banking outlets, as well as two representative offices, in 16 markets ofthe region. In March 2004, Global Finance announced that RZB and itsNetwork Banks were selected as winners of the“Best Bank in Eastern Europe and Central Asia”-award. The Network Banks in Albania, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro and Slovakia won the “Best Bank”-awards for their respective markets. In September 2004, The Banker awarded the prestigious prize “Bank of the Year 2004” to RZB’s Network Banks in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Belarus and Albania.