Drones Law: All new? – The European Union (EU) regulations on drones (part I)

Unmanned aircraft, commonly called drones, have huge potential for the development of innovative and practical applications in a wide range of business areas. They will contribute to creating new businesses and jobs and will further develop existing industries and business sectors. Besides the huge advantages in the business world, drones developed to be a popular […]

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2nd Shareholders’ Rights Directive – Implementations in the Stock Corporation Act

Authors: Dr. Silvia Wandl; Dr. Matthias Trummer MSc; Mag. Katharina Seethaler, LL.M. With the Stock Corporation Amendment Act 2019, Federal Law Gazette I No. 63/2019 of 23 July 2019 (AktRÄG 2019), the corporate law provisions of the 2nd Shareholders’ Rights Directive (2nd SRD) were implemented into Austrian law. The provisions attributable to the financial services […]

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In light of SCA under PSD2, we compare smsTAN and pushTAN technologies

Autor: Stefan Paulmayer On 14 September 2019, banks and payment service providers are due to introduce 2-factor authentication (2FA) in light of the implementation of Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) under PSD2. The Austrian banking regulator FMA has recently made use of its power to temporarily exclude merchants from the SCA application in order to facilitate […]

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The New Swiss Rules for International Financial-Services Providers having Clients in Switzerland and Producers of Financial Instruments for the Swiss Market

Co-author: Dr. Martin Liebi, LL.M. Austrian credit institutions and other financial services providers rely heavily on the possibility of passporting their services to other member states of the European Union (EU) respectively European Economic Area (EEA) under the European freedom of establishment and freedom of services. When it comes to the cross-border provision of financial […]

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2nd Shareholders’ Rights Directive – Implementations in the Stock Exchange Act 2018

Co-author: Dr. Silvia Wandl During a marathon session of the Austrian Parliament on 3 July 2019, the changes to the Austrian Stock Exchange Act 2018 proposed in the corresponding government bill, were adopted. As had widely been hoped for, and in line with demands by the banking industry in particular, Section 179 (7) of the […]

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Reps & Warranties Insurances

Authors: Dr. Silvia Wandl; Dr. Matthias Trummer, MSc; Dr. Krzysztof Nowak, LL.M.; Mag. Katharina Seethaler, LL.M. Reps & warranties insurances simplify, accelerate and increase the value of M&A transactions. These insurances are able to help resolving or softening conflicts of interest between buyers and sellers. To facilitate a smooth process of taking up a reps […]

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A mortgage backed Security Token – vision or reality?

Autor: Stefan Paulmayer Crypto currencies and tokens are still among the trending topics. While the hype from 2016 to 2018 has focused mainly on so-called Utility Tokens, so-called Security Tokens are now “the next big thing”. Security Tokens offer investors the opportunity to invest in actual values. This distinguishes Security Tokens from Utility Tokens that […]

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Deal News – PwC Legal advises Max Brown 7th District

The Max Brown 7th District brings a fresh boutique hotel concept with exciting gastronomy to Vienna. Max Brown Hotels trusted the expertise of PwC Legal Austria under the lead of Karl Koller for its market entry in Austria. The Hotel Max Brown creates charming hotels in some of the most vibrant neighbourhoods in Europe. The […]

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M&A: Creating value beyond the deal – new report released!

Authors: Dr. Matthias Trummer MSc, Dr. Krzysztof Nowak, LL.M.; Mag. Katharina Seethaler, LL.M. “Creating value beyond the deal M&A report” by PwC in collaboration with Mergermarket and Cass Business School combines global insights from a survey of over 600 global corporate executives, revealing how dealmakers effectively create significant value via M&A and generate maximum returns. […]

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Revised Shareholders’ Rights Directive – final government bill expected for implementation

Author: Dr. Silvia Wandl The Shareholders’ Rights Directive (EU) 2017/828 of 17 May 2017 (EU Official Journal L-132/1), in accordance with its title, aims at “the encouragement of long-term shareholder engagement”. This objective is to be achieved in particular by enhancing transparency and by enhancing an investors’ influence on processes in the company. The Directive […]

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