English »Legal Updates
Privacy Shield does not provide adequate protection
The ECJ addressed the transfer of data from an EU country to a third country. The court decided that the EU-US Privacy Shield, an implementing act by the Commission, was invalid. The US surveillance measures are not limited to what is strictly necessary, do not guarantee the independence of an ombudsman, and do not guarantee authorization to make binding decisions against American intelligence agencies for an ombudsman (ECJ C 311/18 dated 16.07.2020).
31. July 2020
The ECJ on the repayment of a loan agreement prematurely
In a significant decision, the ECJ addressed the premature repayment of a consumer loan. According to the ECJ consumers have a right to reduce all costs of a loan agreement if they repay the loan before the initially agreed time period. Among these costs are also administrative fees or commissions, which are paid initially regardless of the time period of the loan agreement. Relevant Austrian laws (Law on consumer loans, Mortgage and Real Estate Loan Act) will therefore be amended due to this decision (ECJ C 383/18 dated 11.09.2019).
17. July 2020
ESMA issues clarification on disclosure of non-monetary benefits
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) recently updated its Questions and Answers on the MiFID II-Directive. MiFID II was implemented in the Securities Market Supervision Act (Wertpapieraufsichtsgesetz). ESMA clarifies that investment firms need to disclose to their investors any non-monetary benefit they receive from third parties also for rendered services other than portfolio management and independent investment advice.
19. June 2020
COVID 19-subsidies
The Austrian government has decided on various subsidies to support companies that were affected economically as a result of the COVID19 crisis. Some of these subsidies consist of interest free tax reliefs and social security contribution reliefs, guarantees for loans, short-term-work (Kurzarbeit) and direct aid in the form of grants (Zuschüsse). These subsidies can still be applied. TAIYO Legal will gladly assist you to identify applicable subsidies for you and file the necessary applications.
12. June 2020
One less potential way to “negative interest”
A borrower sued a bank for interest. Due to negative reference rates, the interest rate for the loan became negative. The Supreme Court in Civil Matters ruled that the bank does not need to pay interest to the borrower. Even where a rule of doubt regarding the interpretation of the loan agreement to the detriment of the bank (and to the benefit of the borrower) applies, the bank would not have to pay “negative interests”. Nevertheless, the Supreme Court in Civil Matters does not rule out the payment of negative interests for certain “atypical” contracts (OGH dated 26.02.2020, 1 Ob 16/20i).
22. May 2020