Request for a preliminary ruling from the Bundesverwaltungsgericht (Austria) lodged on 31 October 2024 – XXXX v Finanzmarktaufsichtsbehörde

(Case C-755/24, Finanzmarktaufsichtsbehörde)

(C/2025/534)

Language of the case: German

Referring court

Bundesverwaltungsgericht

Parties to the main proceedings

Applicant: XXXX

Defendant: Finanzmarktaufsichtsbehörde

Question referred

Does secondary EU law (in particular Article 60(5) and (6) in conjunction with Article 58(1) to (3) and Article 59(1) of Directive (EU) 2015/849, (1) last amended by Directive (EU) 2019/2177, (2) in addition to the general legal principles of the European Union (in particular effet utile)

preclude the provisions of Paragraph 35(1) to (3) (on the criminal liability of legal persons) and Paragraph 36 (extension of the limitation period) of the Austrian Finanzmarkt-Geldwäschegesetz (Law on financial markets anti-money laundering, FM-GwG),

which, in conjunction with the interpretation of those provisions by the Austrian Verwaltungsgerichtshof (Supreme Administrative Court), require that, in order to punish a legal person, it is imperative that an official representative or another natural person who has acted for the legal person has previously been given the formal party status of defendant, or at least of a party with full rights, and, in addition, it is imperative that the operative part of the administrative penal order against the legal person determines that the natural person specifically named therein (or the official representative) committed an offence, acted unlawfully and is culpable in order to attribute that conduct to the legal person as a further step, the limitation period for bringing proceedings being within a period of three years of the end of the offence and the limitation period for the punishment of offences within a period of five years?

(1)  Directive (EU) 2015/849 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 May 2015 on the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purposes of money laundering or terrorist financing, amending Regulation (EU) No 648/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council, and repealing Directive 2005/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and Commission Directive 2006/70/EC (OJ 2015 L 141, p. 73).

(2)  Directive (EU) 2019/2177 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2019 amending Directive 2009/138/EC on the taking-up and pursuit of the business of Insurance and Reinsurance (Solvency II), Directive 2014/65/EU on markets in financial instruments and Directive (EU) 2015/849 on the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purposes of money-laundering or terrorist financing (OJ 2019 L 334, p. 155).