Thanks to the skyscraper in New York: Vontobel made money with Benko

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The Swiss financial center is moving deeper and deeper into the Benko swamp. Numerous banks have co-financed Signa Holding’s business, and windy real estate investor René Benko (46) has outstanding loans from his companies. The worst blow was Bank Bär, which wasted nearly 600 million francs and kicked out CEO Philipp Rickenbacher, 52.

But there is another way: Bank Vontobel, as “Tages-Anzeiger” wrote, apparently made money from Benko. The Zurich private bank is said to be raising money for the Austrian via private placement in spring 2022. The 10 million francs Benko needed in connection with his stake in the iconic Chrysler Building in New York.

We also do business with the foundation

Vontobel did not inject money itself, only financing and, according to the “Tages-Anzeiger”, raised about 150,000 francs. Not much when you consider the billions of dollars Benko is juggling in his real estate empire. But it’s still much better than a loss of hundreds of millions of francs like Julius Baer.

Vontobel is also said to have done business with a foundation run by the Benko family and is demanding repayment of an amount of over 30 million francs in the summer of 2023. It is not known whether the money was actually refunded.

Vontobel needs to save money

Whatever the business with Benko, Vontobel implemented a savings program of 100 million francs. The bank made significantly less earnings in 2023 than in the previous year. When Blick asks, they want to make processes more efficient. There will also be layoffs, but this should mainly happen through natural volatility. The bank did not want to give an exact figure. At the end of 2023, approximately 2,275 people were employed in Vontobel.

Source :Blick