AUSTRIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Bettina Knoetzl, Patrizia Netal, Katrin Hanschitz and Natascha Tunkel, KNOETZL
without the need to show any specific legal interest or justification. • The Tradespersons Register ( Gewerberegister ) – in order to obtain information on the commercial activities of specific legal or natural persons, the Austrian Tradespersons Register, which is kept by local administrative authorities, may prove help - ful. Under Austrian law, most trades may only be carried out by certified tradespersons. The Trades - persons Register is easily accessible online and lists the trades registered by a specific juridical or natural person. • The Insolvency Register ( Ediktsdatei ) is an online database kept by the competent courts, which publish all relevant decisions related to insolvency proceedings. It is publicly and easily accessible online. The database shows whether a party is subject to insolvency proceedings, as well as the status of those proceedings. The Insolvency Regis - ter also lists court-ordered auctions of assets. • The Trade Mark and Patent Register ( Marken- und Patentregister ) offers a freely accessible online database that identifies ownership of registered IP, including national and European patents, trade marks and designs. Further means to identify assets Creditors who can show that they have a claim against the debtor and legitimate doubts as to the debtor’s creditworthiness may instruct a lawyer or notary to access the Enforcement Register ( Exekutionsregister ), which contains court data regarding enforcement pro - ceedings conducted against the debtor. The informa - tion includes the number of pending enforcement pro - ceedings (including the amounts owed) for the past two years, whether enforcement measures regarding movable assets have been successful, and whether the debtor was ordered to provide a list of all assets ( Vermögensverzeichnis ) in the past year. The Register of Beneficial Owners ( Register der wirtschaftlichen Eigentümer ) is accessible for certain groups of registered users – generally entities who are subject to AML obligations, including lawyers, nota - ries, (chartered) accountants, banks and various types of agents. It allows the determination of the (indirect) commercial owners of companies registered in Aus - tria.
The Association for Credit Protection ( Kreditschutz- verband von 1870 ) maintains a database with infor - mation on companies and individuals. It contains company profiles, branch profiles, and monitoring and early warning systems for the purpose of inform - ing (potential) creditors about the financial standing of their business partners. As the accuracy of this online database cannot be guaranteed, a double check with other available data is always highly recommended. Asset Disclosure Orders Asset Disclosure Orders are limited under Austrian law, but they are available in enforcement proceed - ings. Upon the application of the creditor, the court will order third-party debtors, social security agencies and the debtor to disclose specific information. In enforcement proceedings aimed at seizing monies in Austrian bank accounts held by the debtor, it suf - fices to name the bank and request the court to order the bank to disclose any accounts. Austrian banks are obliged to comply with this information request by law and are liable for any incorrect information. Enforcement proceedings for the attachment of earn - ings may be initiated even if the identity of the debtor’s employer is unknown. Upon the application of the creditor, the court will request this information from the social security agencies, which are obliged to pro - vide such information by law. Should a request to the social security agencies not show any regular income or if no movable assets of value are found, the debtor can be ordered by the court to provide an inventory disclosing all assets ( Ver- mögensverzeichnis ) (Section 47 et seq of the EA). If the debtor refuses to draw up an inventory of assets, the court may impose imprisonment for up to six months. Incorrect disclosures are sanctioned by criminal law. Enforcement Packages Under Sections 19 and 20 of the Austrian Enforcement Act The fallback means of enforcement is the “simple enforcement package”, which is triggered if the credi - tor does not specify any enforcement measures in the enforcement application, and automatically includes enforcement against all movable goods in the debtor’s possession, attachment of salary claims (the debtor
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