The Austrian Government has published an amendment to the legal framework of Annual General Meetings (AGM) of Austrian issuers. The new regulations came into force as of 23 March 2020.
As mentioned in our previous Newsflash, the new regulations came into force pending a review by the Ministry of Justice and their issuance of the implementation details. The review period has now been concluded and the details have been issued via ordinance on 8 April 2020. The ordinance defines the details according to which General Meetings can be held without physical presence (virtual meetings). Thus, going forward, AGMs can be held according the new and amended regulation.
Impact on investors: After an analysis of the guidelines issued by the Ministry we would like to confirm that the amended legal framework does not have any effect on the instruction and proxy process applicable for our clients and any instructions can be forwarded and accepted as usual.