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HRE headquarters in Munich (2009)
Photo: Fabrizio Bensch / REUTERS
Not only cities and municipalities are currently fighting for the millions that they have invested in the Bremen scandal bank Greensill.
Around the bankruptcy of the money house, a dispute has broken out over compensation payments to Hypo Real Estate, a bank that was bailed out and nationalized by the state with billions during the financial crisis in 2009.
According to a report in the Berlin daily newspaper »Welt«, the institute invested 75 million euros in Greensill Bank and now wants to get the money back from the banking association's deposit protection fund.
However, the latter sees no basis for this because, in his opinion, HRE is a bank and savings deposits from financial institutions are not protected.
Many municipalities also affected
"When asked, the deposit protection fund cannot confirm that HRE is not a financial institution," explained a spokesman for the association, which was a bit awkward.
Initially, no comment was received from HRE and the Federal Ministry of Finance.
The »Welt« quoted a statement by HRE: »From HRE's point of view, the entire invested sum of 75 million euros is fully secured by the deposit protection fund.« This was assured when the time deposits were made between April 2018 and December 2019 have.
Numerous municipalities are also trembling about their deposits at Greensill Bank, as these have not been secured by the deposit protection fund for several years.
Whether they will ever see their money again depends on how much the liquidator can still get out of it.
So far, deposits of 255 million euros from 26 German cities and municipalities, including Monheim am Rhein and the Hessian state capital Wiesbaden, are known.
The insolvency administrator of Greensill Bank, meanwhile, expects extensive and lengthy proceedings.
"I assume that this process will last between five and ten years," said Michael Frege of "Wirtschaftswoche".
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beb / Reuters