After the debacle surrounding the Austrian real estate and trading group Signa, the government in Vienna wants to take legal action against overly convoluted company structures.
There should no longer be any legal hiding places due to certain social structures, said Vice Chancellor Werner Kogler (Greens) to the APA news agency. He also spoke out in favor of higher penalties, as the APA reported on Sunday: “If you refuse to provide financial statements, the penalties should be multiplied,” Kogler quoted them as saying. Corporate law must be changed so that “a lot more has to be disclosed from the outset”.
Investor René Benko’s Signa Group, which also includes the Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof (GKK) department store chain, is extremely complex. This includes more than 1,000 smaller companies. After strong growth during the period of low interest rates, it got into extreme difficulties due to higher interest rates, increased construction costs and energy prices. Numerous companies have filed for bankruptcy, as has Germany’s last large department store group, GKK. By nesting, the group managed to avoid having to present a consolidated balance sheet.
Two investigative committees in Vienna will soon examine, among other things, Corona state aid for Signa Group companies and whether financial authorities have given the group preferential treatment. (dpa)