A: Austria, right in the center of Europe is one of the few Member States of the EU which pays more into the budget of the EU than getting out from it. Austria has a very stable and growing economy, Austria managed to survive the crisis without suffering from damages and has a very robust banking system which is well known for its famous bank secrecy.
Q: What are the most popular financial products in your jurisdiction? How can they protect the interests of investors?
A: The most popular financial products are of course the Austrian Private Foundations and Austrian Holding companies which are second to none and which not only protect the privacy of the investor in a perfect way but also serve as a perfect tool for legal tax planning.
Austrian private foundations enjoy a large range of tax benefits and do have access to the currently 90 Double Taxation Treaties Austria has with other countries.
Q: What kinds of professional financial services (trust & foundation/corporate structure) can your jurisdiction provide? What are your existing clients from China? What potential clients do you want to attract from China and how?
A: Austria can not only provide the best foundation system in the world (confirmed by the Tax Court of Canada) but also offers a perfect holding system which foresees that foreign source dividends and foreign source capital gains are tax exempt even if they come from off-shore jurisdictions or from countries with which Austria does not have a tax treaty. This gives way to perfect tax planning in a legal way which is supported by the 60 Investment Protection Agreements Austria has with other jurisdictions.
Austria therefore is an absolute safe harbor for international investors, especially from China who would like to make investments either into Europe or into Africa in a safe and tax efficient way.
Q: As an offshore financial center, what are you going to do in terms of balancing the need for more transparency with the need to protect the privacy of clients?
A: The balancing of the need for transparency with the need to protect the privacy of the clients is already done in Austria.
An Austrian structure involving an Austrian private foundation and an Austrian GmbH (company with limited liability) is a perfect instrument to provide in a legal way an utmost of protection of privacy guaranteed by an absolute reliable jurisdiction as Austria is.
