Meinl Bank Insolvency Triggers Austria’s Deposit Insurance Plan

Anglo Austrian AAB Bank AG, better known under its old name Meinl Bank, became the first lender in nearly two decades to trigger the country’s deposit insurance as it filed for insolvency on Monday.

The move marks a dramatic new turn in the history of the bank that was founded in 1923 as a savings club for employees of Julius Meinl AG, a coffee and grocery chain operating across the former Austro-Hungarian empire. It became inevitable after the European Central Bank revoked Anglo Austrian’s banking license last year, citing alleged failures in prevention of money laundering.

About 60 million ...