2023-12-21 18:00:03
Bern (awp) – The collapse of the Austrian real estate group Signa has put the Federal Financial Market Supervisory Authority (Finma) on alert. The regulator is in intensive contact with “various regulated establishments” and has also taken measures at an early stage, a Finma spokesperson assured Thursday.
Asked about the opening of an investigation against the Julius Bär banking group, reported by the Bloomberg press agency, the communicator recalled that the regulator did not comment on the details of its surveillance activity. specific institutes.
In principle, financial institutions subject to Finma’s supervision are supposed to “manage their risks appropriately”, and if the regulator finds shortcomings in this area, “it examines them and takes measures if necessary”.
According to the report published by Bloomberg, Finma’s investigation would focus on failings in control structures. Thus, the financial director (CFO) Evie Kostakis would be responsible both for structuring loans to private individuals – among whom is the Austrian tycoon René Benko, owner of Signa – and for managing credit risks. However, typically in banks, the risk team reports to the chief risk officer (CRO).
These structural failures of the Zurich wealth manager would be at the origin of Julius Bär’s exposure to Signa, writes Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter. The bank admitted at the end of November to having lent 606 million Swiss francs to a “European conglomerate”, without specifically mentioning the group in the hands of René Benko.
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