The controversial loans from Vorarlberger Bank to Benko’s Signa Group are now to be scrutinized. However, Brigitte Eggler-Bargehr, director of the State Audit Office, does not expect the results of the audit to be available soon.
The collapse of Rene Benko’s house of cards is now also a concern for the Vorarlberg State Audit Office. The bank experts of the audit institution have been busy searching through the papers of Hypo Landesbank since July. As is known, the company has granted several loans to Benko’s Signa Group, and must now expect high defaults. While those responsible at the bank themselves speak of losses of probably around 75 million euros, the opposition in particular expects a loss of more than 130 million euros.
How big was the risk?
The director of the State Audit Office (LRH), Brigitte Eggler-Bargehr, confirmed the audit on Friday. However, due to the extensive material, she does not expect the investigation to be completed before December. The parties in the state parliament submitted an application to the LRH in March to approve “the transactions of Hypo Vorarlberg Bank AG that are considered risky from 2020 onwards, in particular the investments and loans to Signa Holding, the Signa Privatstiftung and all subsidiaries and assets”.
The board of directors is being investigated
The LRH will scrutinize Hypo’s supervisors. The aim is to check whether the supervisory board has actually performed its tasks. The reporting obligations between departments and the internal early warning system will also be checked.
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.
