Austrian Federal Finance Agency
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| State level | Federation | ||
| Position of the authority | Federal enterprise | ||
| legal form | Ges.mbH | ||
| At sight | Federal Ministry of Finance | ||
| founding | 1.1.1993 | ||
| Headquarters | Vienna, 1, Seilerstätte 24 | ||
| Authority management | Markus Stix, Walter Jöstl | ||
| Website | www.oebfa.at | ||
The Österreichische Bundesfinanzierungsagentur Ges.mbH (OeBFA) acts in the name and for the account of the federal government and is the treasury of the Republic of Austria . It is 100% owned by the federal government.
history
The agency, founded in 1993, is based in Vienna's Innere Stadt . The managing directors are Markus Stix (since June 2015) and Walter Jöstl (since April 2019). Martha Oberndorfer headed the company from 2008 to 2015 . On May 1, 2019, Thomas Steiner moved to the board of directors of the National Bank, followed by Walter Jöstl as Managing Director of the Federal Finance Agency.
tasks
The central task of OeBFA is to ensure that the Republic of Austria can meet its payment obligations at all times and - while strictly observing risk limits - to minimize medium and long-term costs for taxpayers. OeBFA has also been mandated by the Federal Minister of Finance to also offer other units of the state sector certain financing and advisory services, if this can create a nationwide benefit.
The legal basis for the business activities of OeBFA is the Federal Financing Act (Federal Act of December 4, 1992 Federal Law Gazette No. 763/1992 on the administration and coordination of financial and other federal debt). In addition, sections 16, 21, 40 and 65 of the Federal Budget Act (BHG) are of particular importance.
In day-to-day business, for example, OeBFA carries out the following activities on behalf of and for the account of the federal government: taking on financial debts (including by issuing Austrian government bonds ), concluding currency exchange agreements and other credit operations, managing the existing debt portfolio, carrying out credit operations and preparing reports for the federal states and federal legal entities at the request of the Federal Minister of Finance, Capital Market Communication / Investor Relations and the central federal treasury. Funds from the disaster fund and urban water management are invested by the OeBFA. As part of the e-government initiative of the Austrian federal government, the OeBFA has been offering bundesschatz.at as a citizen service since 2002 .
Criticism by the Court of Auditors
The Federal Financing Agency hit the headlines in the wake of the financial crisis in the summer of 2009 through the Court of Auditors' report on the financing instruments of the federal, state and local governments (Bund 2009/8 series). It became known that OeBFA invested in secured money market paper (ABCP) in 2007 as part of the central federal treasury , some of which were at great risk from the US subprime crisis. According to the Court of Auditors, the possible damage to taxpayers was EUR 380 million. The former finance ministers Karl-Heinz Grasser and Wilhelm Molterer were involved, among others , who denied any damage to the republic. Even taking into account the ultimately realized loss of 296 million euros, the OeBFA saved the Republic of Austria around 6.3 billion euros in interest between 1993 and 2010 (= 2.2% of Austrian GDP )
Due to criticism from the Court of Auditors, a strict separation between the areas of risk and assessment was decided in April 2010. Other points that have been implemented by law since then are the four-eyes principle, the limitation of cash holdings, consideration of reputational risks and ethical standards or compliance with due diligence obligations to combat money laundering and terrorist financing.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Walter Jöstl becomes the new managing director of the Federal Finance Agency . Article dated April 17, 2019, accessed April 17, 2019.
- ↑ Federal Audit Office Report 2009/8 "Financial Instruments of the Regional Authorities" ( Memento of the original from December 9, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on the Austrian Court of Auditors online from July 15, 2009
- ↑ Federal Financing Agency: Grasser defends himself against Die Presse from July 19, 2009, accessed on July 23, 2009.
- ↑ Risk papers with a loss of 296 million euros sold on Der Standard from April 12, 2011, accessed on April 16, 2011
- ↑ Crystal clear rules for the Austrian Federal Financing Agency ( Memento of the original from May 26, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on the website of the Ministry of Finance on April 27, 2010, accessed on April 28, 2010.
Web links
- OeBFA
- Federal Financing Act (PDF; 23 kB)
- Federal Treasury
- Festschrift "20 Years of the Austrian Federal Financing Agency 1993-2013" (PDF; 2.8 MB)