"Too strict guidelines"

Mikl-Leitner sets motto for new head of the FMA

Governor of Lower Austria Johanna Mikl-Leitner (ÖVP).

(Bild: APA/TOBIAS STEINMAURER)

The decisions on the new appointments to the National Bank's Board of Directors and a Board of Directors for the Financial Market Authority (FMA) are on hold. For Johanna Mikl-Leitner, Governor of Lower Austria, however, the job profile of the new head of the FMA is already clear. According to Mikl-Leitner, the controversial KIM regulation is to be deleted "without replacement", making loans for residential property easier to obtain again. 

EU Commissioner, ECJ judge, head of the FMA and director of the National Bank. The list of personnel decisions that the black-green federal government still has to make in the government finale is long, and the potential for controversy is great. However, the government is reportedly already in agreement on the new appointments to the National Bank Board of Directors and the new FMA Executive Board.

The personnel carousel is spinning
As the "Krone" reported several times, it is considered certain that the current Minister of Labor and Economic Affairs, Martin Kocher (ÖVP), will be appointed as the new governor of the National Bank. The head of Austria Wirtschaftsservice (AWS), Edeltraud Stiftinger, and central banker Josef Meichenitsch are also set to join the OeNB's board of directors. According to insiders, Thomas Steiner will remain on the Board of Directors.

Mariana Kühnel, currently deputy to Karlheinz Kopf, who is still Secretary General of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber, is considered the favorite for the position of CEO of the Financial Market Authority (FMA). However, even before she, or someone else, takes up the job, Austria's most powerful ÖVP politician Johanna Mikl-Leitner is already defining the job profile. 

Nobody understands why the FMA imposes stricter credit guidelines here than in Germany.

Johanna Mikl-Leitner (ÖVP)

"Whoever moves into the executive floor of the FMA: It's time to shed the false pride there, open their eyes and scrap the KIM regulation without replacement. The FMA is deliberately sabotaging many young people's lifelong dream of owning their own home. And it is also sabotaging the business location. I'm not the only one saying that. Many experts have now joined me in my criticism. It's time to get off our high horse and finally show some insight. This must be part of the job profile of the new FMA management team," explains the head of Lower Austria. 

The Financial Market Authority is currently responsible for the disproportionately high hurdles for loans. For example, they stipulate a maximum debt service ratio of 40 percent of household income and an equity share of 20 percent of the total cost of purchasing a property. In view of the high prices and hurdles, many people are deprived of the opportunity to own an affordable home.