Provisions of Austrian law governing insurance intermediaries

Under Article 11 of the Insurance Distribution Directive, Directive (EU) 2016/97 (“IDD”), the Member States must ensure appropriate publication by their competent authorities of the relevant national legal provisions protecting the general good which are applicable to the carrying on of insurance and reinsurance distribution in their territories, including information about whether and how the Member State has chosen to apply the stricter provisions provided for in Article 29 (3) IDD.

Contact point for the provision of information

The contact point for the provision of information on the regulations to protect the general good is the Federal Ministry for Labour and Economy (Section 137d (4)).

Provisions under the Trade Act (GewO) of 1994

This document (PDF, 198 KB) includes:

the national legal provisions protecting the general good which are applicable to the carrying on of insurance and reinsurance distribution by insurance intermediaries based on the Industrial Code and civil law in Austria;
as well as information on the extent to which Austria, pursuant to Article 22 of Directive (EU) 2016/97 (IDD), has chosen to apply stricter provisions than set out in Chapter V and under Article 29 (3) of Directive (EU 2016/97.

These provisions are highlighted in grey and are printed and explained in their entirety based on the statutory duty of disclosure under Section 137d (4) GewO 1994 (Article 11 IDD).

Information furnished by FMA

Based on Section 256 (3) in combination with para 2 of the Insurance Supervision Act (VAG) of 2016, the Financial Market Authority FMA in this document (PDF, 410 KB) (german) provides the following information to the Federal Ministry for Labour and Economy acting as contact point:

the relevant national legal provisions protecting the general good which are applicable to the carrying on of insurance and reinsurance distribution by insurance intermediaries in Austria;
and information on the extent to which Austria has chosen to apply stricter provisions than set out in Chapter V and under Article 29 (3) of Directive (EU) 2016/97.

In addition to the legal provisions protecting the general good which are of relevance for distribution, the document also includes the mandatory provisions applicable for operating the contractual insurance business in Austria.

The document may be obtained on the FMA website through: https://www.fma.gv.at/versicherungen/offenlegung/aufsichtliche-offenlegung/ (national legal provisions protecting the general good).

On its homepage, EIOPA (=European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority, Frankfurt) publishes the links to the Member States’ websites.

Contact

Division for Crafts, Trades and Services Law: gewerbe@bmaw.gv.at