Finance Minister Magnus Brunner (ÖVP) wants to learn lessons from Signa’s bankruptcy and set up a company database in the financial administration. With “such spectacular causes,” politics “cannot return to normal,” he said.
In the Ministry of Finance’s ‘Finance Friday’ podcast, Brunner spoke out in favor of amending the trade register and in favor of higher fines if a company does not submit annual accounts. Transparency needs to be improved.
“The bankruptcy of the Signa companies is undoubtedly one of the most spectacular bankruptcy cases in recent Austrian economic history. The restructuring process should clarify the causes of insolvency and also explore possible asset transfers. At the same time, politicians must also learn lessons from the case,” the Minister of Finance is convinced.
How transparency should be created
The tax authorities for large companies should have access to well-prepared company data. According to the Ministry of Finance, linking data from different companies is currently only possible to a limited extent. A group database could facilitate monitoring and “also make connections within a group of companies visible.” The changes must be implemented during this legislature.
Since Signa Holding is based in Innsbruck, the tax amount would be significantly lower than in Vienna. The NEOS therefore announced that they wanted to investigate the role of Tyrolean tax officials in dealing with Benko’s Singa companies during the upcoming COFAG-U committee. “There are 500 Signa companies. I have great confidence in the financial administration employees,” says Brunner. A change of headquarters is not in itself unusual.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
