Liquidation of the Financial Company KB1909: Genealogy of the Crisis and Possible Outcomes

The KB1909 financial company – the legal successor of Kmečka banka in Gorizia – is facing a severe crisis. Until a few years ago, the holding controlled about thirty affiliated enterprises. These enterprises operated in the Friuli- Venezia Giulia region and in Slovenia, and have been also active on the markets of Central and South-Eastern Europe. An unprecedented crisis, low-performing investments, risk exposure, difficult relations with bank-creditors, and bad managerial decisions – all of these factors contributed to the development of a situation that is now difficult to manage. In November 2017, shareholders of KB1909 voted for its liquidation. The company must now reach an agreement with creditors on how to restructure its debt. There are three possible ways in which the crisis may end up, namely: a gradual liquidation of the company, a return to normal operating standards, or bankruptcy. The crisis of the KB1909 holding company will almost certainly negatively impact the Slovene community in Italy. In the past decades, the Slovene minority already experienced two significant failures – those of the Credit Bank of Trieste (Tržaška kreditna banka) and of the Agricultural Bank (Kmečka banka).

Key words: KB1909 joint stock company, financial holdings, indebtedness, liquidation procedures, debt restructuring, Slovenes in Italy.