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Zurich (awp) – Migros Bank and the cooperative association of the same name (FCM) have granted significant amounts to the now insolvent Austrian real estate group Signa.
The bank adds that the financing was granted to a real estate company in which several investors were involved, which “obtained the lifting of banking secrecy” in order to be able to communicate.
“The mortgage is secured by a first-class real estate collateral,” in this case “a department store building in a prime location in downtown Zurich.” And the institution emphasizes that “the building is rented and all interest and depreciation have been reliably paid.”
Migros Bank adds that it has a loan portfolio of 50 billion francs, 94% of which is secured by real estate collateral. The annual results will be published next Tuesday.
Loan of 125 million to Globus
For its part, in a newsletter published a few moments later, the FCM stated that it had granted a loan totaling 125 million francs “as part of the sale of Globus to a joint venture between Signa and Central Group” in 2020.
However, the retail giant insists that the latter was paid directly to the department store chain and not to its new owners due to the Covid-19 pandemic that was raging at the time. Migros assures that the loan is “partially secured by guarantees” and is “in contact with those affected”.
In recent days, several financial institutions have admitted to being exposed to Signa. Most recently, the Valais Cantonal Banks (BCVs) and Obwaldner Kantonalbanken (OKB) admitted to having been involved in a syndicated loan of 24.3 million francs granted to the Austrian group.
The Aargauer Kantonalbank (AKB) – in parallel with another unidentified group of investors – financed 73 million francs for properties in the centers of Bern and Zurich on behalf of a “group of distressed investors in the department store and real estate sector” through the real estate sector.
However, the most exposed Swiss company to date remains Julius Baer, with three loans totaling more than 600 million Swiss francs guaranteed by counterparties related to commercial real estate and the luxury sector, which had forced the manager to issue a profit warning to Fortune Zurich at the end November due to a high provision (82 million).
ck/buc/rp
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