Austria: Finance and Banking

Corporate borrowers across Germany, Austria, and Switzerland face a critical challenge as €151 billion in debt matures in 2027, forcing companies to navigate tighter lending conditions, higher financing costs, and diminishing access to alternative capital sources.

The EU Listing Act, which is part of the European agenda to make public capital markets in the EU more attractive, was published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 14 November 2024.

ESAs have published their Final Report on the draft implementing technical standards (ITS) for the European Single Access Point (ESAP)...

Austria has introduced comprehensive reforms to its Criminal Code of Procedure to address the challenges of securing crypto assets in criminal investigations. The new provisions establish a legal framework for transferring digital currencies to government-controlled wallets and enable premature realization of volatile crypto holdings.

The Banking Law Forum hosted by the Austrian Society for Bank Research brought together experts to examine how jurisdiction and arbitration clauses function in international financing agreements. Florian Haugeneder shared practical insights on drafting effective dispute resolution mechanisms and navigating challenges when finance transactions become contentious, with particular focus on asymmetrical clauses common in cross-border deals.

March 2026 – CRD VI (Directive (EU) 2024/1619) introduces a new harmonised EU regime requiring EU credit institutions and licensed (mixed)...