Austria: “Taxpayers Have to Bleed for Hypo Group“

More+Comment ♦ Published: March 7, 2014; 15:04 ♦ (Vindobona)

Franz Schellhorn, head of think tank Agenda Austria, told “Handelsblatt” in an interview that having delayed the issue of Hypo Group was a fatal mistake by the Austrian government. He points out the consequences of the disaster.

"The Austrian state leadership generally tends to put off any decision-making" / Picture: © Wikipedia / JJ55 (30 March 2008)

The Austrian government has been harshly criticized for not having taken action much earlier after the problem bank was nationalized in 2009. Franz Schellhorn, director of think tank Agenda Austria, thinks that a systemically not relevant bank is allowed to go bankrupt. However, with Hypo Group Alpe Adria this is not the case since some major investors have rated the problem banks as…