AMIS: Partway Victory for Legal Protection Insurers
Vienna, 25 May 2007
After lodging seven test claims so far, national legal protection insurers have scored a first partial success: The Republic of Austria as liability respondent in the matter of “Official responsibility for the Supervisory Body FMA” has resulted in the waiver of the statute of limitations in favour of the injured parties in the AMIS affair.
The claims of official responsibility brought by the Austrian legal protection insurance companies against the Republic of Austria in the AMIS case, including the very first such claim in the AMIS affairs, represent an important step for the injured parties on the way to recovering at least parts of the lost capital. The waiver of the statute of limitations which has now been negotiated by the three law firms engaged not only means that time has been gained, but also relieves the burden on the courts and reduces the risks of the proceedings.
Without the waiver, a real avalanche of lawsuits would have been triggered by November 2008, in order to pursue all possible claims by the insured parties in the AMIS case.
Background:
The Austrian Insurance Association (VVO) serves the national legal protection insurance companies, as well as the three law firms instructed by the insurers, Dr. Andreas Köb, Kraft & Winternitz, and Dr. Benedikt Wallner, as contact partner and co-ordination point.
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