KNOETZL Staging

Die Whistleblower-Richtlinie: Handlungsbedarf fĂĽr Unternehmen

1 Ziel und Gegenstand der Richtlinie Am 7.10.2019 wurde die sogenannte Whistleblower-RL (Richtlinie zum Schutz von Personen, die Verstöße gegen das Unionsrecht melden, „RL“) beschlossen. Bis spätestens 15. Mai 2021 ist sie von den Mitgliedstaaten umzusetzen. Die RL enthält Mindestvorschriften, das heiĂźt die Mitgliedstaaten dĂĽrfen auch gĂĽnstigere MaĂźnahmen fĂĽr Whistleblower vorsehen (Artikel 19). Ziel der…

European Commission adopts new Whistleblower Protection Directive

Update: More information on the directive here. Service provided by whistleblowers, combined with strong encouragement and protection of active whistleblowers, has proven to be a vital link between the public interest and enhancement of the public good, away from corruption, negligence, and malfeasance. Despite their protected position encouraging and even enabling them to reveal insider…

Europäische Kommission verabschiedet neue Whistleblower-Schutzrichtlinie

Update: Mehr Informationen zur Richtlinie hier. Whistleblower haben sich als wichtiges Bindeglied zwischen dem Gemeinwohl und dessen Schutz vor Korruption, Fahrlässigkeiten und Rechtswidrigkeiten erwiesen. Jedoch schrecken Mitarbeiter und Stakeholder oftmals aus Angst vor VergeltungsmaĂźnahmen davor zurĂĽck, Rechtsmissbrauch zu melden. Um Hinweisgebern die Information der Ă–ffentlichkeit zu erleichtern, hat die Europäische Kommission eine neue SchutzmaĂźnahme eingefĂĽhrt.…

Last Days of Summer: KNOETZL Weinwandertag

Rain and wind could not dampen our spirit this weekend. Successfully hiking Vienna’s outskirts on a traditional Weinwandertag, our team and their family and friends braved the bad weather to be rewarded with excellent local wine and food. Thank you to everybody who joined us!

Corporate Disputes

In an M&A dispute, can you stop the target’s subsidiaries from taking measures that threaten to dissipate their assets, thus de-evaluating the parent company? This was a question that was very recently put before the Austrian Supreme Court (6 Ob 142/19d). The Facts The underlying dispute arose after a Brazilian investment company contracted to acquire 100%…

The Year in Review 2018 (2019, Volume 53)

The Year in Review 2018 (2019, Volume 53) is out! With more than 22,000 readers in 90 countries, this prestigious annual publication of the International Section of the American Bar Association is the most widely distributed US international law survey in the world.   KNOETZL’s Katrin Hanschitz is one of four contributors for the field of…

The Hidden Rocks in International Cash Pooling Austria – Capital Maintenance

Executive Summary: The Austrian Supreme Court has recently provided guidance on how to structure cash pooling arrangements so that the risk of violation of the strict Austrian capital maintenance rules is minimized. In essence, the decision indicates that if there is sufficient commercial justification; no special default risk that could prove an existential risk to…