Dieter Hengl to become new Head of Corporate & Investment Banking at Bank Austria as successor to Helmut Bernkopf, who has been appointed head of global UniCredit Private Banking operations
- Dieter Hengl, 47, currently Deputy Chief Risk Officer of Bank Austria, will join Bank Austria’s Management Board to head the Corporate & Investment Banking Division with effect from 1 August 2011
- Helmut Bernkopf has been appointed Head of UniCredit’s Private Banking Division with responsibility for business with high net worth individuals in UniCredit Group
Subject to a resolution to be passed by the Supervisory Board of Bank Austria, Dieter Hengl, 47, currently Deputy Chief Risk Officer and Head of Corporate & Investment Banking Credit Operations, will join Bank Austria’s Management Board and succeed Helmut Bernkopf as Head of the Corporate & Investment Banking Division of Bank Austria with effect from 1 August 2011.
At today’s meeting of UniCredit’s Board of Directors, Helmut Bernkopf, 44, has been appointed as Head of the Private Banking Division of the Group. In his new function, Bernkopf will be responsible for UniCredit Private Banking’s future growth in 22 countries. UniCredit Private Banking is one of the largest players in the European private banking market, with 235,000 clients and client assets of about EUR 167 billion under management. Helmut Bernkopf will succeed Andreas Wölfer, who left the Group.
Willibald Cernko, CEO of Bank Austria: “The appointment of Helmut Bernkopf as Head of the Private Banking Division of UniCredit shows the unique career opportunities available to executives in our Group across national borders. Helmut Bernkopf is a top manager, and we are of course sorry to see him leave Austria. On the other hand, we are very pleased that an Austrian will perform the important function of Head of Private Banking in our Group. Helmut Bernkopf has successfully expanded our leading market position in corporate banking in Austria over the past years and thereby made a substantial contribution to our performance. I thank him for the excellent cooperation and wish him every success in his new function. Dieter Hengl, a very experienced bank manager who will succeed Helmut Bernkopf, comes from within our bank. He has gained special expertise in both risk management and corporate banking. His appointment is proof of continuity at top management level and shows that we have a strong base of executives in our banking group.”
Dieter Hengl, 47, a lawyer by training, will join Bank Austria’s Management Board and head the Corporate & Investment Banking Division at Bank Austria from 1 August. Hengl joined what was then Creditanstalt as a trainee in 1990. Starting his career as an analyst, he later held managerial positions in Austria, CEE and in UniCredit SpA, where he was responsible for global risk management of UniCredit’s commercial real estate business. Most recently he was Deputy Chief Risk Officer and Head of Corporate & Investment Banking Credit Operations with over 700 employees. Dieter Hengl is married and has one child.
Helmut Bernkopf, who holds a master’s degree in business administration, will head UniCredit’s Private Banking Division and be responsible for the entire Group’s business with high net worth individuals. Bernkopf has been active for Bank Austria since 1994. The experienced bank manager from Vienna started his international career in Bank Austria’s corporate banking division and in its London Branch. He was appointed head of corporate banking at Bank Austria’s subsidiary in Romania and later joined the management board of HVB Bank Romania. At the end of 2004 he returned to Vienna and became General Manager of Bank Austria for operations in the region of Central and Eastern Europe. In 2007, Bernkopf was appointed Deputy President of the Board of Management of UniCredit Bank Russia. In 2008 he joined Bank Austria’s Management Board to take responsibility for the Corporates Division. Helmut Bernkopf is married and has two children.
Enquiries: Bank Austria Media Relations Austria
Martin Kammerer, tel. +43 (0) 50505 52803
e-mail: martin.kammerer@unicreditgroup.at
