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National Report on Austria

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Groups of Companies

Part of the book series: Ius Comparatum - Global Studies in Comparative Law ((GSCL,volume 43))

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Abstract

Austrian corporate law defines a group of companies (Konzern) as legally separate enterprises which are subject to the common direction (einheitliche Leitung) to pursue economic aims, or as a situation in which a legally separate enterprise by virtue of participation or otherwise directly or indirectly another enterprise exerts a controlling influence (beherrschender Einfluss). The notion in corporate law applies to almost all types of legal entities which under Austrian law can become subject to group provision. Due to the implementation of EU directives, the Austrian group regulation has grown in the past years. However, instead of a codification of group regulation, Austrian law has relevant provisions in different statutes. In principle, each subsidiary is treated as a separate legal entity, and the group is accordingly is not regarded as a legal entity and cannot enter into transactions, or act as a claimant or defendant in court.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    See on partnerships, Torggler (2016), p. 105; see details below Sect. 2.1.

  2. 2.

    Federal Law Gazette I 2014/283.

  3. 3.

    Schurr (2017) recital 3.

  4. 4.

    § 105 Austrian Commercial Code: The unlimited partnership has legal capacity (“Die offene Gesellschaft ist rechtsfähig”).

  5. 5.

    See Artmann (2018), pp. 1–2; Durstberger (2019), pp. 3–4.

  6. 6.

    Jabornegg (2011) recital 15; Fröhlich and Haberer (2016) recital 23.

  7. 7.

    Milchrahm (2017) recital 82–83; Arlt and Schima (2016), p. 286.

  8. 8.

    Austrian Supreme Court of Justice (OGH) 14.9.2011, 6 Ob 139/11a.

  9. 9.

    For an overview see Torggler (2014) recital 4; Milchrahm (2017) recital 62.

  10. 10.

    OGH RIS-Justiz RS0120356.

  11. 11.

    OGH 1 December 2015, 6 Ob 217/05p.

  12. 12.

    Bydlinski and Potyka (2011) recital 13.

  13. 13.

    See Kalss (2010a), p. 139.

  14. 14.

    Rüffler (2006), p. 14.

  15. 15.

    Hügel (2014), p. 26; Torggler (2013), pp. 12–13.

  16. 16.

    OGH 14 September 2011, 6 Ob 29/11z.

  17. 17.

    OGH 30 January 2014, 12 Os 117/12s.

  18. 18.

    Austrian Federal Act Amending the Criminal Code 2015 (Federal Law Gazette I 112/2015).

  19. 19.

    Directive 2017/828/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 May 2017 amending Directive 2007/36/EC with regards the encouragement of long-term shareholder engagement [2017] OJ L132/1. Comments from an Austrian perspective are provided by Reich-Rohrwig and Zimmermann (2017), p. 327.

  20. 20.

    See Austrian Federal Act Amending the Stock Corporation Act 2019 (Federal Law Gazette I 63/2019).

  21. 21.

    See draft of the Austrian Ministry of Justice, Document 130/ME 26th Legislative Session, p. 6.

  22. 22.

    OGH 29 September 2010, 7 Ob 35/10.

  23. 23.

    OGH 15 December 2014 (6 Ob 14/14y).

  24. 24.

    Reich-Rohrwig and Zimmermann (2017), p. 332.

  25. 25.

    See Kalss (2016), p. 410.

  26. 26.

    OGH 25 February 1953, 2 Ob 789/52.

  27. 27.

    OGH 8 May 2008, 6 Ob 28/08y.

  28. 28.

    OGH 31 July 2015, 6 Ob 196/14p; OGH 23 June 2017, 6 Ob 221/16t.

  29. 29.

    OGH 8 May 2008, 6 Ob 28/08y; OGH 18 September 2009, 6 Ob 49/09p.

  30. 30.

    OGH 22 November 2011, 8 Ob 104/11v; OGH 22 November 2011, 8 Ob 105/11s.

  31. 31.

    Kalss (2010a), p. 139.

  32. 32.

    OGH 25 June 2003, 9 Ob 64/03g.

  33. 33.

    Obiter dictum: OGH 24 October 2016, 6 Ob 169/16w.

  34. 34.

    OGH 22 November 1988, 5 Ob 626/88.

  35. 35.

    OGH 31 January 2013, 6 Ob 100/12t.

  36. 36.

    OGH 24 October 2016, 6 Ob 169/16w; OGH 31 January 2013, 6 Ob 100/12t.

  37. 37.

    OGH 22 November 1988, 5 Ob 626/88.

  38. 38.

    For the application of fiduciary duties in partnerships, see OGH 9 July 1996, 4 Ob 2147/96f.

  39. 39.

    For the liability of shadow directors, see OGH 23 February 2009, 8 Ob 108/08b.

  40. 40.

    Cf. Torggler (2013), pp. 17–19.

  41. 41.

    OGH 12 April 2001, 8 ObA 98/00w; OGH 19 December 2002, 2 Ob 308/02m; OGH 30 September 2009, 9 ObA 125/08k.

  42. 42.

    OGH 30 September 2009, 9 ObA 125/08k.

  43. 43.

    OGH 22 November 2011, 8 Ob 104/11v.

  44. 44.

    OGH 19 December 2002, 2 Ob 308/02m.

  45. 45.

    OGH 12 April 2001, 8 ObA 98/00w; OGH 10 March 2003, 16 Ok 20/02.

  46. 46.

    Chapter V of Regulation 2015/848/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 May 2015 on insolvency proceedings (2015) OJ L141/19.

  47. 47.

    OGH 22 November 2011, 8 Ob 104/11v; Schopper (2016), p. 619.

  48. 48.

    Schopper (2016), pp. 630–631.

  49. 49.

    OGH 22 October 2001, 1 Ob 49/01i.

  50. 50.

    Directive 2004/25/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 April 2004 on takeover bids (2004) OJ L142/12.

  51. 51.

    Regulation 2017/1129/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 June 2017 on the prospectus to be published when securities are offered to the public or admitted to trading on a regulated market, and repealing Directive 2003/71/EC (2017) OJ L168/12, see also Austrian Capital Market Act 2019 (Federal Law Gazette I 62/2019).

  52. 52.

    The Austrian Banking Act herein refers to Art 4(1)(35) of the Regulation 2013/575/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 June 2013 on prudential requirements for credit institutions and investment firms and amending Regulation 2012/648/EU [2013] OJ L176/1 which on its part refers to Art 17 of the Fourth Council Directive 78/660/EEC of 25 July 1978 on the annual accounts of certain types of companies. The said Directive thus additionally states that the ‘holding of part of the capital of another company shall be presumed to constitute a participating interest where it exceeds a percentage fixed by the Member States which may not exceed 20%’.

  53. 53.

    See on these issues Directive 2002/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2002 on the supplementary supervision of credit institutions, insurance undertakings and investment firms in a financial conglomerate and amending Council Directives 73/239/EEC, 79/267/EEC, 92/49/EEC, 92/96/EEC, 93/6/EEC and 93/22/EEC, and Directives 98/78/EC and 2000/12/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council [2003] OJ L35/1.

  54. 54.

    OGH 17 December 2002, 4 Ob 221/02g; OGH 20 April 1993, 4 Ob 35/93; OGH 12 July 1994, 4 Ob 70/94.

  55. 55.

    Schmid (2017) § 9 para 130.

  56. 56.

    Regulation 2004/883/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 on the coordination of social security systems [2004] OJ L166/1.

  57. 57.

    Directive 96/71/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 1996 concerning the posting of workers in the framework of the provision of services [1997] OJ L18/1.

  58. 58.

    Directive 2014/67/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 May 2014 on the enforcement of Directive 96/71/EC concerning the posting of workers in the framework of the provision of services and amending Regulation 2012/1024/EU on administrative cooperation through the Internal Market Information System [2014] OJ L159/11.

  59. 59.

    OECD/G20 Base Erosion and Profit Shifting Project. Explanatory Statement.

  60. 60.

    OGH 17 June 198, 1 Ob 541/81; Straube (2001), p. 2101.

  61. 61.

    Haberl (2005), pp. 549–550.

  62. 62.

    OGH 17 June 1981, 1 Ob 541/81. A claim to the CJEU stating that the inapplicability of the said doctrine would hamper comparability and thus infringe the TFEU stipulations has been dismissed by the CJEU in C-186/12 Impacto Azul [39].

  63. 63.

    Heindler (2020) recital 103.

  64. 64.

    Doralt (1988), p. 32; Doralt (1994), p. 192; see Kalss (2010b), pp. 200–203.

  65. 65.

    Torggler (2013), p. 11.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sigmund Freud University, Vienna, Austria

    Florian Heindler

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  1. Florian Heindler
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  1. University of Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Rafael Mariano Manóvil

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Heindler, F. (2020). National Report on Austria. In: Manóvil, R.M. (eds) Groups of Companies. Ius Comparatum - Global Studies in Comparative Law, vol 43. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-36697-1_9

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