Austria’s Bank Medici – just one of the numerous financial institutions hit by the fraudulent investment scheme perpetrated by Wall Street veteran, Bernard Madoff, – has been taken under the wing of the Austrian state. The country's financial regulator has appointed a supervisor to the board of the Vienna-based bank to safeguard creditors' interests. A state financial inspector, Gerhard Altenberger, will oversee all bank operations to ensure the lender "carefully adheres to all legal and contractual obligations", the authority said. The move was needed because there "was a risk that the financial institution will not respect its obligations to creditors, particularly in managing funds entrusted to it," it added. Medici's chief executive Peter Scheithauer and Werner Tripolt, who oversaw its executive committee, have both resigned.