---
title: "Susanne Riess-Hahn: Signa boards and liability questions"
language: en
canonical: https://osint.v3rta.com/dossiers/signa-holding/participants/susanne-riess-hahn/
as_of: 2026-10-10
keywords: ["SIGNA Holding GmbH","SIGNA Prime Selection","SIGNA Development Selection","René Benko","Familie Benko Privatstiftung","Laura Privatstiftung","Ingbe Stiftung","Supraholding","ownership","insolvency","corporate governance","asset recovery","criminal proceedings"]
---

# Susanne Riess-Hahn: Signa boards and liability questions

- Also known as: Susanne Riess-Hahn

**Question.** How did Susanne Riess-Hahn participate in Signa’s governance?

**Answer.** Riess-Hahn served on Holding’s advisory board and Prime and Development supervisory boards; later liability demands were reported, without a judgment here.

## Public career and corporate capacity

- Analysis: The retained biographical reference identifies Susanne Riess-Hahn, also known as Susanne Riess and formerly Riess-Passer, as Austria’s vice-chancellor and minister for public service and sport from 2000 to 2003. It describes her as Wüstenrot’s general director from 2004. These offices explain her public-career background; they are not a sanction designation or adverse finding. [s-d258]
- Analysis: The same reference places her on SIGNA Holding’s advisory board from 2009 and on Prime and Development’s supervisory boards from July 2017. SIGNA’s own archived September 2013 page independently names her as an advisory-board member at that date. The absence of end dates in a biography does not show that those Signa offices continued after insolvency. [s-d258] [s-d260]
- Documented: The retained biographical reference places Riess on SIGNA Holding’s advisory board from 2009 and on Prime and Development supervisory boards from July 2017. It also records Wüstenrot leadership, BAWAG supervisory service in 2008–2013, ÖIAG in 2014–2015 and Verbund in 2015–2020. [s-d258]
  - Qualification: Open-ended biographical dates do not establish a current Signa appointment after insolvency. Criticism of her comments about Signa’s capital strength is an attributed criticism, separate from judicial liability.
- Documented: SIGNA’s archived September 2013 advisory-board page listed René Benko, Alfred Gusenbauer, George Economou, Karl Samstag, Karl Stoss, Susanne Riess, Peter Hasskamp, Rainer de Backere and Wendelin Wiedeking. [s-d260]
  - Qualification: This is the company’s historical self-description at the archived date. Placement first in the list does not prove chairmanship; membership is distinct from a managing-director appointment.
- Analysis: The retained biography also records supervisory-board service at BAWAG-Holding in 2008–2013, Österreichische Industrieholding AG from June 2014 to March 2015, and Verbund AG in 2015–2020. Those outside-company offices are distinct from her Signa appointments; historical terms do not establish current posts. [s-d258]

## Reported recovery demands

- Analysis: An April 2026 account describes potential liability claims against former supervisory-board members, naming Riess-Hahn alongside Alfred Gusenbauer and Robert Peugeot. The matters concern intercompany loans and alleged delay in insolvency filings. The account reports an approximately EUR 1 billion demand by Prime’s administrator in January 2025 and ongoing settlement discussions. Those are demands and negotiations: the retained material does not establish a judgment against Riess-Hahn or an agreed settlement. [s-d245]
- Attributed: An April 2026 account says former Signa supervisory-board members, including Alfred Gusenbauer, Susanne Riess-Hahn and Robert Peugeot, faced potential civil liability claims over intercompany loans and delayed insolvency. It reports an approximately EUR 1 billion demand by Prime’s administrator in January 2025 and ongoing settlement discussions. [s-d245]
  - Qualification: Potential joint liability described in the account is not an adjudicated liability or an agreed settlement. The named directors do not inherit one another’s allegations.
- Analysis: The institutional distinction matters when reading those claims. Holding’s advisory board and the two property companies’ supervisory boards are different bodies. Riess-Hahn’s governance roles do not make her the alleged actor in a separate allegation against another director, and the financial amount of a collective claim cannot be assigned to her individually without a specific finding. [s-d258] [s-d245]

## Sources

- [s-d258] Media source · s-d258
- [s-d260] Company statement source · s-d260
- [s-d245] Media source · s-d245