Wallner on Hypo

“The bank must cover the losses itself”

After the Managing Board of Hypo Vorarlberg informed the public on Tuesday about the details of the loans to the Signa Group, Governor Markus Wallner was quite relaxed about possible losses for the state bank. 

On Tuesday, CEO Michel Haller reported on how the loans to the Signa Group were granted, after it had been rumored for days that some of the loans had never been collateralized. Haller rejected the accusations and affirmed that all Signa loans had been collateralized. Another question, however, is how high the losses for Hypo will ultimately be. In any case, Governor Markus Wallner stated on Tuesday in response to a question from "Krone" that he was "not afraid". 

This is because Hypo has performed excellently over the past ten years and is one of the top ten Austrian banks. In addition, the Board of Managing Directors had informed him that the bank had made a provision of 75 million euros - and was still able to post a profit of 50 million euros. With figures like these, people's concerns about the Landesbank could be allayed. 

"The bank must absorb the loss itself"
He also had to admit that no one can yet say how high the bank's losses will actually be. However, he made it clear to those responsible at the bank that not a single cent of taxpayers' money should be used in the event of a loss. "The bank will then have to absorb the loss itself." Wallner also referred to audits of Hypo, for example by the Financial Market Authority. Should this reveal deficiencies in the granting of loans, then these must be rectified immediately.