This prompt increase of global and European firewalls constituted important stabilizing steps at this very early stage of the crisis, which were particularly important for the Central and Southeastern European (CESEE) region. In a similar vein, the so-called “Vienna Initiative” had been launched already in January 2009 in order to create a framework for safeguarding the financial stability in CESEE.
The “Vienna Initiative” served as a forum for major international financial institutions, among them the IMF and the World Bank, the most important European institutions, home and host country regulatory and fiscal authorities and the largest banking groups operating in the region. The “Vienna Initiative” helped to avoid a potentially region-wide systemic crisis in the CESEE banking sector.