Austria

1. Does Austria have legislation making it a criminal offence to engage in money laundering and/or terrorist financing?

Yes. The primary criminal law provisions are in § 165 (money laundering) and § 278d (terrorist financing) of the Austrian Criminal Code (“Strafgesetzbuch”).

2. To whom does the legislation apply?

The Austrian Criminal Code applies to all natural and legal entities and is not limited to certain professions and businesses.

3. What does the legislation prohibit?

The Austrian Criminal Code prohibits money laundering (as defined below) and terrorist financing.

Terrorist financing is defined as providing or collecting assets with the intent that they, even if only partially, are used for the execution of certain terrorist activities including air piracy, extortionate kidnapping or a threat to do so, an attack on the life, limb or liberty of a person protected under international law or a violent attack on an apartment, an office or a means of transport of such a person which is capable of endangering the life, limb or freedom of this person, an intentional hazard from nuclear energy or ionizing radiation and various other terrorist activities specified in detail. The definition also includes providing or collecting assets for terrorist financing.

4. How is money laundering defined? Does underlying criminal activity have to be proven?

Money laundering is defined as:

• converting or transferring to another person assets that result from defined substantial criminal activity (i.e. crimes being subject to imprisonment of more than one year and certain other defined crimes including drug crimes) with the intention of concealing them or their illegal origin or of supporting another person who is involved in such criminal activity so that they escape the legal consequences of their act; or
• concealing or disguising the true nature, origin, location, disposition or movement of assets resulting from such criminal activity; or
• acquiring, possessing, converting, transferring or otherwise using assets with the knowledge at the time of the acquisition that they originate from someone else's criminal activity; or
• acquiring assets on behalf of or in the interest of criminal or terrorist organisations for their disposal.

Pursuant to § 165 of the Austrian Criminal Code, the underlying criminal activity must be proven, but it is neither required that the perpetrator is convicted nor is it necessary that all facts of the criminal activity are known or proven.

5. What level of intent or knowledge is required to establish a violation?

A violation of § 165 (money laundering) and § 278d (terrorist financing) of the Austrian Criminal Code principally requires “conditional intent”. This means it is sufficient that the perpetrator seriously considers the realisation of the elements of the crime are possible and comes to terms with the potential realisation. Certain modes of committing money laundering also require actual knowledge about the origin of the monies or assets from certain crimes.

6. What are the potential penalties for infringing the legislation?

Imprisonment of up to ten years is a potential penalty.

7. Does the legislation have extra-territorial reach?

Partly yes. The underlying criminal activity may take place outside of Austria but a connection of the criminal act to Austria is required - for example, the perpetrator or the victim is an Austrian citizen or because of other defined connections of the crime to the Austrian territory.

8. Are there additional anti-money laundering or counter terrorist financing regulations or obligations, such as registration or reporting obligations, for businesses or individuals that operate in particular sectors or undertake particular activities?

Various laws oblige specific businesses and professions (i.e. financial institutions, attorneys, notaries, tax advisors, auditors, and certain businesses with an increased risk of being abused for money laundering activities such as trade, real estate agents, business consultants and insurance intermediaries) to implement anti money laundering policies, which also include reporting obligations. With respect to these obligations, negligence partly suffices for establishing a violation.

9. What are the potential penalties for failing to comply with these reporting obligations?

The maximum fine for violations by financial institutions are EUR 5 Mio or, if higher, twice the amount of the benefit drawn from the violation; for financial institutions up to EUR 5 Mio or, if higher, 10 % of the annual turnover.

The maximum fine for other specific businesses and professions is EUR 1 Mio or, if higher, twice the amount of the benefit drawn from the violation.

10. Who are the relevant enforcement authorities in Austria and what are their contact details?

With respect to certain (major) financial crimes including money laundering, the Central Prosecution Service for the Persecution of White Collar Crime and Corruption (“Zentrale Staatsanwaltschaft zur Verfolgung von Wirtschaftsstrafsachen und Korruption”):

Dampfschiffstraße 4, 1030 Vienna, Austria

T: +43 152 152

On police level, the most important authority is:

The Federal Criminal Police Office (“Bundeskriminalamt”)

Austrian Financial Intelligence Unit (“Meldestelle Geldwäsche”)

Josef Holaubek-Platz 1

1090 Vienna

A-FIU@bmi.gv.at