Austria's banking regulations are about to be overhauled. Yesterday, representatives of the ruling parties—the Social Democratic Party (SPÖ) and the People's Party (ÖVP)—finally obtained the green light from the opposition parties to soften the country's banking secrecy regulations on accounts held by foreigners. The deal was backed by the Green Party and the far-right Alliance for Austria's Future (BZÖ), although the larger member of the far-right bloc, the Freedom Party (FPÖ), refused to sign up.

Change of Rules

The agreement has come at a heavy cost for the cabinet. From the outset, the watering down of the regulations was highly controversial: Austrian banks argue that the current banking regulations are a great asset for the country. The far-right FPÖ echoes this sentiment and has said that the government should not give in to pressure from international organisations. Many members of the parties that agreed the deal yesterday would agree with this argument. However, fears that international organisations would shun Austria and keep it on the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's (OECD) "grey list" outweighed these concerns among many members of the SPÖ and ÖVP. The leadership of the BZÖ and Greens recognised this anxiousness early on and adopted a hard line in negotiations with the government, delaying an agreement. Meanwhile, pressure was mounting from international organisations, which tried to corner the Austrian government. The announcement of sanctions by the European Investment Bank (EIB) on tax havens in the European Union (EU) further strengthened the government's desire to resolve the matter swiftly.

The deal is highly controversial and will certainly attract criticism from many operators in the financial services sector. The fact that the changes affect foreigners only offers little in the way of consolation for the FPÖ. However, what won over the Greens and the BZÖ were a number of agreements that allow them to punch above their weight in Austrian policy-making, notably in the lower house of parliament. The main concessions are as follows:

• The Austrian Court of Auditors can assess the October 2008 bank bailout package and how it has been applied to date. In doing so, it can count on the support of all necessary institutions and bodies. The court is set to start its investigations in the first quarter of 2010.
• The Court of Auditors can evaluate the use of state funds by municipalities in more detail. The BZÖ and Greens are keen to find out more details about how the mostly SPÖ- and ÖVP-dominated municipalities have managed to make considerable losses in the capital markets.
• The Court of Auditors will also be allowed to investigate the controversy surrounding the enlargement of Vienna Airport ("Skylink Project"). This was previously prevented by a law that stipulated that the court could only assess matters where the state or regions held or controlled more than 50% of the entity or project to be examined. In the case of Skylink, the regional governments of Vienna and Lower Austria together hold 40%; the court has long been arguing that this nevertheless represents de facto majority control.
• The rights of opposition parties will be boosted. The launch of parliamentary enquiries now requires only 25% of all votes or the support of one parliamentary faction. This increases the scope for launching enquiries into the controversial activities of the ÖVP from 2002-06 in particular.

Outlook and Implications

The four-party deal paves the way for Austria's swift exit from the OECD's "grey list" of countries that are not fully compliant with the organisation's tax co-operation rules. The two other EU member states put on the list, Luxembourg and Belgium, have already been removed from it. The Austrian government will continue to sign revised, OECD-friendly double-taxation agreements (DTAs) with other countries; the new treaties are in line with the OECD Model Tax Convention, which opens the way for international co-operation on suspected tax evaders. The government needs to sign seven more such DTAs to exit the "grey list". A few obstacles remain to its removal from the list, but these can all be cleared in the very near future. The Finance Committee in the lower house is likely to back the agreement and accompanying draft law; according to media reports, this could happen as early as today. Once backed by the committee, MPs in the lower house will vote on the changes in an extraordinary session; as the situation stands now, this should take place on 1 September. The text needs to be backed by two-thirds of all present MPs to receive the seal of approval. The SPÖ and ÖVP together hold 108 of the 183 seats in the lower house; the support of the BZÖ and the Greens will give the government up to 54 additional votes and thus it should be able to push the text through, even if not all MPs from the four parties vote in favour. The decision of the upper house is unlikely to affect the MPs' vote as the lower house holds more power in this case. The final stop for the law, the president's office, is unlikely to derail the government's plans either as President Heinz Fischer has not spoken out against the changes.

If all goes to plan for the SPÖ and ÖVP, Austria could be removed from the OECD list by the time of the G20 meeting in late September. It seems that the softening of regulations is almost a done deal in the EU's last bastion of banking secrecy, in spite of the FPÖ's and bankers' protests.

Global Insight (Reino Unido)