Financial expert Gerald Zmuegg classifies the situation surrounding Hypo Vorarlberg’s Signa activities as the “Krone”. The Vorarlberger Landesbank is not coming off well: whether it concerns the board of directors, the supervisory boards or the governor of the state Markus Wallner – the actions were too naive at all levels.
“Kron”: Did Hypo Vorarlberg take too much risk when lending to Signa?
Gerald Zmuegg: If you compare the Signa loans – as far as is known – with the equity of Hypo Vorarlberg and the share of all loans granted, you will see that Hypo has been hit the hardest of all banks. Based on these two points, there is an extreme risk that other banks do not have. If I provide 200 million euros in loans but only have 1.4 billion euros in equity, then that is, to put it mildly, very sporty.
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.
