Hackers hit Bank Austria’s online banking from 4 to 6 May. The cyber criminals hacked into the activity protocols of online banking customers from a covered IP address in France and the Netherlands and from a German server. The attack has apparently been fought off successfully. “It was never possible for the criminals to get […]
Only 32 percent of Austrians regard the bank secrecy as personally important. This is the result of a survey of the Gallup institute for the “WirtschaftsBlatt”. 71 percent think that Austria is no tax haven. The results were identical nationwide in all age groups and professions. It is also remarkable that even big income earners […]
Former vice chancellor and finance minister Josef Pröll (ÖVP) defended the emergency nationalisation of the Carinthian bank Hypo Alpe Adria (2009) in the hearing of the Bavarian Landesbank (BayernLB) against the fund Hypo Alpe Adria Mitarbeiter Privatstiftung (MAPS) at the commercial court of Vienna. BayernLB made sales contracts in regards to Hypo shares with MAPS […]
Prosecutors in Carinthia have confirmed a new investigation around the Hypo Group Alpe Adria (HGAA) bank against 12 people. None of those under investigation were named. BZÖ-Deputy party leader Stefan Petzner had already indicated that there were new investigations around the end of October and now this has been confirmed by prosecutors. Spokeswoman Gabriele Lutschounig […]
The controversial legal battle against Bank Austria on behalf of investors that lost out when they were persuaded to invest in the pyramid scheme operated by convicted fraudster Bernard Madoff has taken a twist when a specimen case was settled in advance of a High Court ruling. The case was carried out by one of […]
The region of Velden in Carinthia is the latest named as having been involved in risky financial investments after losing close to 500,000 Euros of taxpayers money. If correct it will mean Velden is the latest in a number of local government bodies that has tried to profit from speculative investments. Now that the tide […]
In an ongoing battle with the Austrian Financial Market Authority (FMA) over crowdfunding the shoe entrepeneur Heini Staudinger has said that he will not back down and he is prepared to go to prison. Staudinger believes that businesses should be independent from bank loans and freed from debt. Since 1999 he has been able to […]
An Austrian bank is now offering its customers a bank card made out of corn that is biodegradable once it is finished with. The idea is part of an environmental initiative by the Raiffeisen Bank International AG (RBI) which includes not only biodegradable card but also packaging in which it is sent which is also […]
A Vienna court has heard how a man that even prosecutors described as the most famous stringed instrument expert in the world used his reputation to fiddle millions from his clients. Dietmar Machold married a woman 27-years younger, bought a romantic fairy-tale castle and filled his garage with a fleet of VIP cars to impress […]
The world’s biggest ever musical-fraud court case against a leading expert on Stradivari who lived in a castle and had a fleet of luxury cars including two Rolls-Royces gets underway in Austria today (Wed). The reputation of 62-year-old German-born Dietmar Machold was so well regarded that he was allowed to value the instruments and give […]