Update On Austrian Legislation On Corporate Digitalisation Matters

1. Austrian Company Law Digitalisation Act 2022 (Gesellschaftsrechtliches Digitalisierungsgesetz 2022)

We reported on the draft of the Austrian Company Law Digitalisation Act 2022 (Gesellschaftsrechtliches Digitalisierungsgesetz 2022) in our TTP newsletter in September 2022. This law has now passed the first chamber of the Austrian parliament (Nationalrat) and is slated to come into effect at the beginning of December 2022.

Among other things, the law provides for faster registration of new legal entities in the Commercial Register, free online access to short-form Commercial Register information, the possibility to pay share capital to banks located in the European Economic Area and not only to Austrian banks, and reduction of fees payable to the Commercial Register courts.

1. Proposal to extend Covid-19 corporate legislation for a further six months

Austrian COVID-19 legislation allows corporate bodies to meet virtually instead of in person. However, this is still temporary legislation only. The Austrian legislator is now in the process of extending the possibility to hold virtual meetings by six months from 31 December 2022 to 30 June 2023.

There is also a proposal to discontinue the ability of legal entities to hold ordinary general meetings within 12 months after the end of the business year instead of eight months. In line with this, the possibility to prepare annual financial statements with a delay of four months will be discontinued. The discontinuation of extended deadlines will be relevant for all entities having balance sheet dates after 30 June 2022.

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