Portigon (former WestLB)

In February 2008 the owners of WestLB, the state of
Northrhine-Westphalia and the savings banks of the
state of Northrhine-Westphalia agreed on a 5bn EUR
guarantee to cover extraordinary risks arising in
WestLB. During the second half of 2009 the situation
deteriorated and the FMSA developed an interim
solution. By the end of 2009, WestLB became the first
German bank to transfer parts of its portfolio into a
wind-down-agency called “Erste Abwicklungsanstalt”
or EAA. In November 2011 EU-COM voiced serious
concerns about the sustainability of WestLB’s business
model, which the German government agreed to push for.

Following an agreement between the respective parties
on 30th June 2012, WestLB ceased all new business.
The bank transferred its savings bank business (volume
about EUR 40bn) to Helaba (Hessische Landesbank)
and moved its remaining portfolio (volume about EUR
100bn) to the EAA (wind-down-agency) with the
objective of winding down this portfolio. This wind-
down process will take place under guarantee by the
former owners (the state of Northrhine-Westphalia and
the savings banks of the state of Northrhine-
Westphalia). The servicing business of the remaining
entity (Portigon) is transferred into a separate company
and must be privatised by the end of 2016 (EU-COM).