Swap deals legal case gets underway

The civil case of the city of Linz, Upper Austria, against the Bawag bank about the swap deal will start on 24 May. The maximum amount of damage for Linz could be as much as 417 million Euros in the worst case.

The city of Linz will send its financial director, the former state traffic secretary Hermann Kepplinger, to Vienna to be their official observer.

The first question to be decided is whether the contract between the city and Bawag was legally valid in the first place.

Bawag says it was valid, while the city of Liny says no and that they were deceived.
Extensive documents and material will have to be dealt with in several sections by the judge.

At the same time, a committee of the four heads of the city parties in order to watch over the proceedings. It remains unclear as to how long the swap trial will last.

The Federal Audit Office has scrutinized the city of Linz. The report should be published in the coming days. Apparently, many areas were critically examined in the report.