Hans Jörg Schelling (born 27 December 1953 in

Hohenems Hohenems (High Alemannic: ''Ems'') is a town in the Austrian state of Vorarlberg in the Dornbirn district. It lies in the middle of the Austrian part of the Rhine valley. With a population of 15,200, it is the fifth largest municipality in Vorarlb ...

Vorarlberg Vorarlberg ( , ; gsw, label= Vorarlbergisch, Vorarlbearg, , or ) is the westernmost state () of Austria. It has the second-smallest geographical area after Vienna and, although it also has the second-smallest population, it is the state with the ...

as Johann Georg Schelling) is an Austrian entrepreneur and politician of the Austrian People's Party and who served as Minister of Finance of Austria in the governments of chancellors

Werner Faymann Werner Faymann (; born 4 May 1960) is an Austrian former politician who was Chancellor of Austria and chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) from 2008 to 2016. On 9 May 2016, he resigned from both positions amid widening critic ...

and

Christian Kern Christian Kern (; born 4 January 1966) is an Austrian businessman and former politician who served as Chancellor of Austria from 17 May 2016 to 18 December 2017 and chairman of the Social Democratic Party from 25 June 2016 to 25 September 2018. ...

Early career

A native of

in western Austria, Schelling was a millionaire

management consultant Management consulting is the practice of providing consulting services to organizations to improve their performance or in any way to assist in achieving organizational objectives. Organizations may draw upon the services of management consultants ...

before entering politics. Over the course of his career, he made a fortune by building two separate home-furnishing chains into market leaders.

Political career

During his time in office as Minister of Finance, Schelling was in charge of managing the fallout of the 2008 financial crisis. In 2016, he closed FIMBAG, the agency it set up in 2008 during the crisis to oversee state aid granted to troubled lenders. He successfully pushed through legislation paving the way for the government to reach settlements with the creditors of defunct bank Hypo Alpe Adria and remove a millstone from the country's public finances. Under Schelling's leadership, Austria asked

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in 2015 to hand over tax data linked to leaked client data of multinational banking and financial services company HSBC which had admitted failings in compliance at its Swiss private bank. He also supported state-owned utility

OMV OMV (formerly abbreviation for Österreichische Mineralölverwaltung Aktiengesellschaft ('' en, Austrian Mineral Oil Administration Stock Company'')) is an Austrian multinational integrated oil, gas and petrochemical company which is headquart ...

in its negotiations on an asset swap with Gazprom and in 2016 took part in the ceremony, in which OMV agreed to exchange a stake in its Norwegian business for a stake in the Russian group’s Achimov oil and gas exploration blocks; the deal was later abandoned due to opposition from Norway. From 2015, Schelling chaired the group of EU Member States that want to adopt a common tax on financial transactions.

Life after politics

In 2019, Schelling was nominated to serve as a member of the supervisory board at OMV; shortly after, the nomination was withdrawn due to a potential breach of the Austrian government’s rules on a cooling-off period for former ministers.

Other activities

Corporate boards

* Österreichische Volksbanken-Aktiengesellschaft (ÖVAG), Chairman of the Supervisory Board (2012–2014) *

Nord Stream 2 Nord Stream 2 (German-English mixed expression; german: Nord and en, Stream 2, literally 'North Stream2'; russian: Северный поток — 2) is a natural gas pipeline from Russia to Germany running through the Baltic Sea, financed by ...

, Adviser (2018–present)

Regulatory bodies

African Development Bank The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) or (BAD) is a multilateral development finance institution headquartered in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, since September 2014. The AfDB is a financial provider to African governments and private companies ...

(AfDB), Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Governors (2015–2017) *

Asian Development Bank The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is a regional development bank established on 19 December 1966, which is headquartered in the Ortigas Center located in the city of Mandaluyong, Metro Manila, Philippines. The bank also maintains 31 field offic ...

(ADB), Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Governors (2014–2017) * Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Governors (2015–2017) * European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Governors (2014–2017) * European Investment Bank (EIB), Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Governors (2014–2017) *

European Stability Mechanism The European Stability Mechanism (ESM) is an intergovernmental organization located in Luxembourg City, which operates under public international law for all eurozone member states having ratified a special ESM intergovernmental treaty. It was ...

(ESM), Member of the Board of Governors (2014–2017) * Inter-American Investment Corporation (IIC), Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Governors (2014–2017) *

Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) is an international financial institution which offers political risk insurance and credit enhancement guarantees. These guarantees help investors protect foreign direct investments against ...

(MIGA),

World Bank Group The World Bank Group (WBG) is a family of five international organizations that make leveraged loans to developing countries. It is the largest and best-known development bank in the world and an observer at the United Nations Development Gr ...

, Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Governors (2014–2017) *

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Inte ...

, Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Governors (2014–2017)

Non-profit organizations

* Federation of Social Insurance Providers, Chairman of the Board (2009–2014

Personal life

Schelling is married and has two daughters. He is a collector of modern art and enjoys spending time on Stiftsweingut Herzogenburg, the vineyard he operates in his adopted province of Lower Austria.Michael Shields (July 7, 2015)
Furniture magnate Schelling steers Austrian finance overhaul
''

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''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schelling, Hans Jorg 1953 births Austrian People's Party politicians Finance Ministers of Austria Living people People from Hohenems People from Sankt Pölten 21st-century Austrian politicians