Volksbank in southern Thuringia threatened with losses: support necessary
According to its lawyer, Volksbank Bad Salzungen Schmalkalden will probably need support from the guarantee fund of the German cooperative banks. Lawyer Edgar Steinle (Frankfurt am Main) confirmed a corresponding report in the "Handelsblatt" on Wednesday. According to preliminary data, the Volksbank in southern Thuringia made a loss of around five million euros last year - "mainly due to the need for value adjustments", Steinle told the German Press Agency in Erfurt on request.
The amount of the loss is provisional - "that is the current status". A final business balance sheet for 2022 is not yet available, a spokesperson for the Volksbank in Bad Salzungen also confirmed. According to the lawyer, the German cooperative banks' guarantee fund will have to step in, at least temporarily. "There was an accumulation of value adjustments in 2022." Among other things, this involved real estate, but also the valuation of investments.
The Volksbank in southern Thuringia is sometimes referred to as the "Effenberg Bank" because the former professional footballer Stefan Effenberg acted as an advisor to the bank at times when it came to loans to soccer clubs. "These were not long-term matters," said Steinle, who described the term "Effenberg Bank" as grotesque.
The Volksbank, headquartered in Bad Salzungen, claims to have around 250 employees and just under 51,000 customers with total assets of around 1.5 billion euros.
The purpose of the bank guarantee funds in Germany is to ensure that banks in financial difficulties receive help to avoid becoming insolvent.
The German cooperative banks' guarantee fund is expected to provide support to Volksbank Bad Salzungen Schmalkalden due to its estimated five million euro loss. This loss is primarily attributed to necessary value adjustments, including real estate and investment valuations.
Source: www.dpa.com
