Gold, real estate, savings deposits and the like: What about diversification?
Szeiler Ingrid
MMag.  Ingrid Szeiler
Member of the managing board of Raiffeisen Vermögensverwaltungsbank AG

Due to the debt crisis, many wealthy investors have focused strongly on precious metals, real estate and foreign currencies, such as the Swiss franc, or simply prefer to put their assets into savings. Due to the intense volatility on the equity markets, it is easy to lose sight of the importance of portfolio diversification.

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Current portfolio data up to 31 December 2011

Due to our internal year-end closing activities as of 31 December 2011 and the conversion to a new computer system, you will only be able to call up your portfolio data until 31 December 2011. We will do everything in our power to ensure that these activities are completed as quickly as possible. Naturally, your current data will be available as usual following the completion of these activities.

Thank you very much for your understanding!

Important information about banking secrecy

Administrative Assistance Implementing Act (ADG)

 
The Administrative Assistance Implementing Act (ADG) entered into force on 8 September 2009. This new law regulates the domestic procedures in respect of assistance requests from foreign authorities (and will be implemented step-by-step in Austria’s double taxation agreements), as Austria had to undertake to implement the OECD standards for bi-lateral exchange of information in tax issues.
 
These OECD standards envisage that the requesting state receive all information which is expected to be important for its tax (and fiscal criminal) purposes (not only those according to the status quo, which are necessary for an ongoing fiscal criminal case).
 
Prerequisites for foreign administrative assistance:
  • all domestic investigation possibilities of the foreign state have been exhausted,
  • the request pertains to a specific suspicion in relation to specific persons.
Procedure:
  • a foreign state submits a request for administrative assistance to Austria,
  • the Austrian fiscal authorities immediately review whether the legal requirements are fulfilled,
  • if they are, the fiscal authorities notify the person in question and the credit institution involved,
  • within 14 days the customer can have a decision rendered (Fulfilment of the key Prerequisites for Breaching Banking Secrecy),
  • within another 6 weeks, this decision can be appealed before the high courts (Constitutional Court, Administrative Court); the fiscal authorities are to be notified in this regard,
  • if the dilatory effect of this appeal is recognized, the Austrian fiscal authorities will wait until the ruling of the high court.
Once this process of appeals is ended, the credit institution involved can be requested to disclose information and to provide documents.
 
The above regulation pertains to:
  • non-residents from countries in which the OECD standards have already been incorporated into the double taxation agreements, (e.g. such as Luxembourg, Switzerland, the Netherlands, the UK, etc.) should occur soon. (status as of end-September 2009),
  • for residents for tax purposes, who are tax liable abroad and have accounts in Austria.
The above regulation does not pertain to:
  • tax residents in Austria without foreign economic relations. For such parties, the constitutional-level banking secrecy regulations still apply (account disclosure only upon initiation of fiscal criminal proceedings).
There is still no obligation for the automatic exchange of information, for example as envisaged by the EU Interest Directive (automatic notification of foreign tax authorities in respect of interest income assessed in Austria). Austria is allowed to continue collecting EU withholding tax on the interest income of EU residents who are private persons.
Country: Österreich
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Information about the banking secrecy regulations

Important information about banking secrecy

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