Hypo Vorarlberg Loans to Signa Cluster Under Investigation by State Audit Office: Vorarlberg State Parliament Parties Demand Accountability

Following outrage over the awarding of loans by Hypo Vorarlberg to Signa Bunch, the Vorarlberg state parliament parties are initiating an assessment by the State Audit Office, a request to this effect was made on Friday.

The Vorarlberg state parliament parties have the business conduct of Hypo Vorarlberg Kreditanstalt AG examined by the State Audit Office in the sense of which loan transactions with which Signa cluster. A corresponding request was made by the state parliament parties on Friday. The focus of the review should be on the internal mechanisms and control bodies and how the country’s interests were protected. The one with just 77 percent. H. the state-owned financial institution has seven outstanding loans with the real estate and trading group Signa, which has run into financial turbulence. Last year, Hypo Vorarlberg achieved earnings before taxes (EGT) of EUR 53.1 million after Ritterlich value valuation effects. Because it is nevertheless unclear how much money from the Signa loans will flow back to Hypo, the credit institution has massively increased its risk provisions from 10 to 75 million euros in the 2023 annual financial statements. For the worst case scenario, a default scenario of 131.2 million euros was calculated. In the Vorarlberg state parliament on Wednesday, the ÖVP and all parliamentary groups spoke for example. For an audit of the Hypo transactions by the state auditor, the ÖVP did not want to oppose the company. This request, made on Friday, was also signed by ÖVP club chairman Roland Breakfast. The State Audit Office is requested to look into “the risky transactions of Hypo Vorarlberg Kreditanstalt AG from 2020, in particular the investments and loans granted to the Signa corporate group, the Signa private foundation and any subsidiaries and investments”. In this case The specific question to be answered is “whether there were sufficient control mechanisms, reporting obligations between responsible departments were adhered to and whether there was an internal early warning system at Hypo Vorarlberg Kreditanstalt AG”. The role of the supervisory board and the extent to which the interests of which owners have been valued should also be questioned. You also want to listen to advice on “how the risks are e.g. The state of Vorarlberg – and thus the people of Vorarlberg – should be protected in the future.” NEOS club chairman Johannes Gasser wanted the audit by the State Audit Office to be seen as a complement to ongoing controls, for example by the FMA (FMA). “The FMA and Oesterreichische Nationalbank are examining Hypo Vorarlberg Kreditanstalt AG for regulatory and legal provisions,” said Gasser. This state audit office should above all establish a connection to the state of Vorarlberg as capital representative and largest individual shareholder.

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