法律研究
No safe deposit box stays anonymous
Financial institutions which legally don’t count as credit institutions are authorized to offer safe custody services as their principal activity. The Supreme Administrative Court recently ruled that also in cases where the financial institution doesn’t lock the safe itself, it is a safe custody service. Therefore, the provisions of the Financial Markets Anti-Money Laundering Act and the relevant provisions of the Banking Act also apply for “anonymous” safes accordingly. Financial Institutions must identify every customer who keeps a safe deposit box. (Ro 2017/02/0023)
2017年12月6日One bank for everything
On 12.10.2017 an amendment of the Austrian Consumer Payment Account Act (VZKG) was approved by the National Council. The amendment concerns cash withdrawals at ATM’s. In the future, banks must also pay the fees for cash withdrawals of their customers at independent third-party ATM providers. This means that banks won’t have control over the amount and frequency of withdrawals by their customers and therefore also won’t be able to control the charged fees by such third-parties (contract at the expense of third parties). Considering constitutional rights the amendment is highly questionable.
2017年10月27日ECJ defines “easily accessible manner”
The Payment Services Act requires the making-available of certain information in an easily accessible manner on a durable medium. For a long time, it was unclear what fulfils these requirements. Sending information to the internal inbox on the e-banking platform is not sufficient according to the ECJ. Usually the e-banking inbox is used for communication with the bank only. To make sure that the information is made available in an easily accessible manner, this information must be sent to a private e-mail account. (8Ob14/17t)
2017年10月17日More transparency or more bureaucracy ?
The Ultimate Beneficial Owner Register Act (WiEReG) was approved by the National Council at the end of June and by the Federal Council at the beginning of July. The Act implements key parts of the 4th European Anti – Money Laundering Directive, which provides for the introduction of a register of ultimate beneficial owners throughout the EU. The registration authority is established at the Austrian Ministry of Finance. The ultimate beneficial owners of companies (thus also of complex corporate structures), other legal entities and certain trusts must be registered.
2017年8月15日Where were you pointing?
The civil liability for prospectuses is usually determined according to the law of the place where the tort was committed (lex loci delicti). In a recent decision, the Austrian Supreme Court for civil matters ruled that – for civil liability for prospectuses – the law of the marketing place shall be decisive. According to this, the place for which the prospectus was produced and where it was used, shall determine the applicable law. (4Ob112/15x)
2017年7月18日