Austrian lawmakers want to make it easier for startups to get started with a new legal form. Austria offers founders a new option in the form of the “Flexible Company”, which is intended to provide start-ups and founders in particular with an internationally competitive option. FlexCo is a hybrid form of a limited liability company (GmbH) and a stock corporation (AG). The formation of a GmbH is particularly suitable for start-ups, which is why the new legal form is essentially based on the GmbH Act
Stefan Kimmel, partner at KPMG Law, sees this as an interesting regulation of FlexCo in the Handelsblatt. It highlights the facilitation in the transfer of company shares:
“Many start-ups give their employees a stake in the company. However, if one of them wants to transfer his shares, for example because he is leaving the company, this is only possible in Germany with notarial certification. FlexCo is different – here, the transfer should already be possible with a private deed executed by a lawyer. This reduces costs, facilitates the transfer and thus makes the employee share ownership model more attractive overall.”
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