IFLR 1000
The Guide to the World's Leading Financial Law Firms

Austria

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Debtor-in-possession proposal for Austria

Stefan Tiefenthaler and Uwe Rautner
Binder Grösswang
Vienna

In January 2009, the Austrian Minister of Justice stated in an interview published in an Austrian legal periodical that Austrian insolvency laws would be reformed. According to the Minister of Justice, the proposed reform will be aimed at streamlining bankruptcy proceedings and facilitating corporate reorganisation. This may, according to a proposal currently under review, be achieved by amending the provisions on forced composition (Zwangsausgleich) and by allowing, subject to the fulfilment of certain conditions, for a debtor-in-possession system for corporate insolvencies in formal bankruptcy proceedings. The Austrian Ministry of Justice is currently working on a draft amendment to the Austrian Bankruptcy Code.

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Banking

Austrian banks saw hard times during 2009, with some, such as Erste Bank, requiring government bailouts. The trickle-down to law firms has been an ebbing-away of lending mandates and a marked increase in re-financings, debt restructurings and tricky regulatory work....

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Capital markets

Equity capital markets activity was incredibly low in 2009. In Q2, partners at some of the leading firms commented that the last big deal happened in May 2008 and there was no sense of when the next might come along....

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Mergers and acquisitions

Pure M&A activity fell dramatically in Austria during 2009, with some agencies reporting a 70% drop in deal-flow across Europe. Deals that did come to light in the first part of the year were either put on indefinite hold or fell away entirely in the face of a lack of lenders willing to enter into highly-leveraged acquisition financings....

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