...FRANKFURT (S&P Global Ratings) May 13, 2022--S&P Global Ratings said today that the exit of Erste Group Bank AG's CEO is a surprising but manageable event. On May 13, 2022, Erste (A+/Stable/A-1) informed in an ad-hoc disclosure that the CEO of the group, Mr. Bernd Spalt, will leave the bank due to differing views on the bank's long-term strategy. The bank also communicated that the supervisory board, and its nomination committee, would initiate a process to replace Mr. Spalt, whose contract ends June 30, 2023. We assume the bank will share more details at the annual general meeting on May 18, 2022. We consider very unlikely that the CEO's decision to leave will hurt Erste's creditworthiness. In our view, the group has sound governance with a robust system of checks and balances. There is no critical dependence on key individuals, leading us to deem key person risks as low or immaterial. Furthermore, as one of the leading banks in Austria, Erste has a well-managed business model with a strong...
