New Disclosure Limit

With effect of  1 January 2013  changes to the Austrian Stock Exchange Act as proclaimed in the Federal Act I 83/2012 came into force. In § 91 Austrian Stock Exchange Act a new notification and reporting limit of 4 % was introduced.  All other threshold limits remain unchanged.

Investors, both resident and non-resident, are now obliged to disclose when resulting from an acquisition or sale of voting rights of an Austrian corporation, the shares of which are traded on the Official Market the shareholding exceeds or falls below 4%, 5% , 10%, 15%, 20%, 25%, 30%, 35%, 40%, 45%, 50%, 75% and 90%.

The regulations state that a shareholder, whether resident or non-resident, has to notify FMA (Financial Markets Authority), VSE (Vienna Stock Exchange) and the issuer immediately, but at the latest within two trading days following the relevant change.

Investors who have crossed the 4% threshold as of 1 January 2013 are required to inform the FMA, VSE and the issuer within 2 months (i.e. by the end of February).

Furthermore issuers are entitled to stipulate in their articles of association an additional threshold for ownership reporting at 3%

Impact on investors:  New disclosure limit is 4%. Investors who have crossed the 4% threshold as of 1 January 2013 have to report to FMA, VSE and issuer within 2 months.