Loans to Signa

Hypo Supervisory Board welcomes audit by Court of Auditors

At Hypo Vorarlberg, things are currently going pretty well.

(Bild: Mathis Fotografie)

On Monday afternoon, the Supervisory Board of Hypo Vorarlberg met for an extraordinary meeting. Only one topic was discussed, namely the Landesbank's business with the insolvent Signa Group of real estate juggler René Benko, which has come under criticism.

Not much concrete information emerged after the crisis meeting: the Management Board had been informed of the current developments, which were then "thoroughly discussed", according to a statement from the board. This was followed by the addition: "The Supervisory Board understands that there are uncertainties among the public and the bank's customers due to the media coverage." For this reason, an audit by the State Court of Auditors is also supported.

Among other things, it will then take a close look at the extent to which the Supervisory Board has fulfilled its control function. In any case, no self-criticism has yet been heard, quite the opposite: the issues have been "dealt with intensively and carefully on an ongoing basis". In addition, the risk policy and guidelines have already been adjusted "in relevant points" in the wake of the downturn on the real estate markets, and the same applies to the lending practice. 

Banking and restructuring expert Gerald Zmuegg sees the adjustments announced by the Supervisory Board as a forward-looking move: "It is remarkable that this step was announced by the Supervisory Board and not by the Management Board, which is responsible for operations." Even though no details were given, Zmuegg expects that at least the granting of loans without registered pledge certificates will no longer be possible in the future.