Setting the course

Four-member top management: VKB brings returnees to the Board of Directors

Markus Forsthuber (l.) will join the VKB Board of Directors from December 2024 with CEO Markus Auer (2nd from left), Maria Steiner and Alexander Seiler.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/VKB/Lauringer, VKB/Witzany)

Setting the course at VKB: from December, the bank based in Linz will increase its Management Board to four members. Markus Forsthuber, a returnee, has been appointed to the board. He will then succeed Maria Steiner as Chief Risk Officer in spring 2026, which means that the Management Board will shrink to three people again.

"With this decision, we have created the basis for aligning the Executive Board with continuity, success, growth and rejuvenation," says Matthäus Schobesberger, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of VKB.

Four instead of three board members from December
On Tuesday, the bank's Supervisory Board set the course for changes at the top: From December 2024 until spring 2026, the Management Board will be increased from the current three members to four in order to ensure a good handover phase.

This is because the current Chief Risk Officer Maria Steiner (62) will hand over her responsibilities to Markus Forsthuber when her contract expires in spring 2026, but he will already join the VKB Executive Board in December.

Another board position will be advertised externally
Forsthuber already worked for VKB from 2002 to 2008, when he was head of the central legal department, among other things. He returned in April 2024 and has been Head of the Participations department since then. In three months, Forsthuber will join the Executive Board, which includes CEO Markus Auer (39) and Alexander Seiler (61). The latter still has a current contract until summer 2025 and his successor will be advertised externally, according to reports.