Austrian prosecutors said on Tuesday they were bringing an insolvency-related fraud case against the former billionaire founder of the collapsed Signa property group, Rene Benko, Reuters reported. Benko has been in custody for more than five months as the Central Prosecutors' Office for Economic Crimes and Corruption (WKStA) carries out a wide-ranging investigation into a range of offences including several counts of fraud he and other unnamed people are suspected of.

The insolvent Austrian lingerie manufacturer Palmers Textil AG is being taken over by the Danish company Change of Scandinavia, DPA International reported. The investor's entry secures the continuation of Palmers, a spokesman for the company announced on Monday. The long-established Austrian company declared itself insolvent in February. Change of Scandinavia primarily produces and sells women's underwear under the Change Lingerie fashion brand. Creditors can now expect to receive a total of 20% of their claims in four payments within two years, according to the statement.

Austrian anti-corruption and economic crime prosecutors have wrapped up their initial investigation into the collapse of the Signa property empire and filed a report so that a decision on potential prosecutions can be made, they said on Tuesday, Reuters reported. In a statement, they said there were four new strands, including an investigation into Signa founder Rene Benko and persons unknown on suspicion of favourable treatment to a creditor over a roughly 15 million euro ($17.4 million) repayment relating to a loan to Signa Prime at a time when that Signa unit was insolvent.

The European Commission has reprimanded Austria and Romania for breaking European Union limits on government spending — as Austria deals with the financial fall-out of months of political deadlock and Romania's long-running fiscal problems drag on, Politico reported. Under EU fiscal rules, a country's deficit — the difference between a government’s revenues and expenditures — cannot exceed 3 percent of the country's gross domestic product. Both countries went through a long period of political crisis this year. But their situations are very different.

Helaba and other German lenders have paid millions of euros in recent weeks to settle claims by the administrator of former real estate tycoon René Benko’s Signa Prime Selection AG, the Luxembourg Times reported. Helaba paid €26 million at the end of May as part of an out-of court settlement, Signa Prime’s insolvency administrator said in a report to creditors dated Monday. Other payments include €3 million received from Deutsche Pfandbriefbank AG and €2.1 million from Bayerische Landesbank.

Embattled motorcycle maker KTM once again dodged financial ruin, just days ahead of a make-or-break deadline in its court-ordered restructuring, ADVPulse.com reported. The company needed €600 million in emergency funding to meet a court-mandated requirement to repay 30% of what it owes creditors who had filed more than €2 billion in claims. The payout is a key condition of KTM’s ongoing recovery plan — and for a while, it didn’t appear that loan would materialize.

Austrian prosecutors said on Friday they had placed a woman under investigation on suspicion of helping property tycoon Rene Benko hide assets from administrators and creditors dealing with his real estate group Signa's collapse, Reuters reported. Benko has been in custody for more than three months as the Central Prosecutors' Office for Economic Crimes and Corruption (WKStA) continues its investigation into whether assets that should have gone towards paying back creditors were hidden in a trust of which his immediate family are beneficiaries.

Creditors of Austrian motorbike maker KTM AG approved a restructuring plan that will write off 70% of the company’s debt and resume production with the help of new investments, Bloomberg News reported. KTM will need to secure €548 million ($575 million) of funding by May 23 to pay creditors, according to the plan that was approved on Tuesday by a majority of creditors. An extended circle of shareholders will provide additional financing to resume production, the company’s parent, Pierer Mobility, said in a statement. Share of Pierer Mobility rallied 11% in Zurich after the announcement.