Legal Updates

Single Resolution Board (SRB) and the bank levy

The European General Court (EGC) annuls the decision of the Single Resolution Board (SRB) regarding the bank levy. The SRB, an EU authority, ensures the orderly resolution of financial institutions threatened with insolvency by, among other things, imposing a bank levy. The plaintiff banks criticized the non-transparent calculation method of the bank levy. The EGC followed this argument and stated that the underlying regulation on the calculation of the bank levy violates EU law. The SRB can still have the ruling reviewed by the European Court of Justice as the court of last instance (EGC T 411/17 dated 23.09.2020).

7. May 2021

New amendment to the COVID-19 entry regulation

From January 15, 2021, entry into Austria requires a mandatory electronic registration (“Pre-Travel-Clearance”). The only exceptions to this are regular commuters, transit travelers or those who enter the country for reasons that cannot be postponed and are particularly worthy of consideration in the family circle. The registration requirement applies in addition to the already applicable obligations and restrictions. TAIYO Legal will be happy to advise you on the entry requirements that apply to you and support you with your entry into Austria.

15. January 2021

Brexit and financial services

After the end of the transitional period on 01.01.2021, the provision of financial services by the United Kingdom (UK) will be subject to laws of the European Union (EU) for third countries. Regulations of the EU for “passporting”- rights within the EU will no longer apply to providers of financial services seated in the UK. A Free Trade Agreement (FTA) would not remove most of the potential disruption in the financial service sector; an FTA does not deal with “passporting”- rights. Financial services between the UK and the EU will be determined mainly based on equivalence decisions of the European Commission. The European Commission will determine, if a third country’s regulatory, supervisory and enforcement laws are equivalent to the relevant legal framework within the EU.

4. December 2020

Relief for family reunification for children below the age of 18

The Austrian Administrative Court (Verwaltungsgerichtshof ; VwGH) changed its previous jurisprudence in one essential point in favor of family reunification. This point concerns the question of when a child of a person, who wants to reunite his/her family, needs to be below the age of 18. The VwGH has stated that it is sufficient if a child is at the age of 18 (or below) when the application is submitted. Therefore, it has no procedural consequences, if the child becomes 18 years old during ongoing proceedings (see VwGH Ra 2017/22/0021 dated 09.09.2020, referring to the judgement of the Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) dated 16.07.2020, B.M.M. et al., C-133/19; C-136/19 and C-137/19).

30. October 2020

Monopoly on filing for bankruptcy by the FMA

According to the Austrian Banking Act, only the Austrian Financial Market Authority (FMA) may file an application to initiate insolvency proceedings over the assets of a credit institution. In a recent decision, the Supreme Court for Civil Matters decided that the competence of the FMA to file such applications remains in force even after the withdrawal of a banking license. As a credit institution in liquidation, the debtor in question can continue conducting banking affairs even after the withdrawal of its licence. Therefore, it is to be treated as a credit institution in this context (OGH dated 19.06.2020, 8 Ob 27/20h).

14. August 2020