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2007 Annual Report

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� Action brought by the German Bundesanstalt für vereinigungsbedingte<br />

Sonderaufgaben (BVS) in Switzerland for repayment of credit<br />

balances held, and disposed of, by the Communist Party of Austria<br />

(KPÖ) at the former banking subsidiary in Zurich.<br />

� Action brought by Valauret S.A. in Paris on the grounds of alleged<br />

involvement of Creditanstalt AG (now merged with Bank Austria<br />

Creditanstalt AG) in wilful deception in connection with a French joint<br />

stock company as a result of which the plaintiffs incurred losses<br />

through a loss in value of shares acquired by it in the joint stock<br />

company.<br />

� An appeal with suspension of collection was lodged against the<br />

official notices on liability (capital yields tax) issued in connection with<br />

individual securities transactions for the periods 2005, 2006 and<br />

January to September <strong>2007</strong>.<br />

(60) Legal actions brought<br />

and legal proceedings<br />

Legal actions for rescission and declaration of nullity<br />

Three legal actions for rescission and declaration of nullity were<br />

brought against the resolutions adopted at the <strong>Annual</strong> General Meeting<br />

on 3 May <strong>2007</strong> concerning<br />

� approval of the acts of the members of the Management Board of<br />

BA-CA<br />

� approval of the acts of the members of the Supervisory Board of<br />

BA-CA<br />

� transfer to UniCredit of the bearer shares held by minority shareholders<br />

of BA-CA against cash compensation in accordance with the<br />

provisions of the Austrian Squeeze-out Act<br />

and against the rejection of a special audit to ascertain if the issue<br />

price set in December 2006 by the Management Board with the<br />

consent of the Supervisory Board for the capital increase against<br />

contribution in kind was adequate.<br />

By decision of the Commercial Court of Vienna dated 7 February<br />

2008, these proceedings were linked for joint hearing and decision<br />

pursuant to Section 197 (3) of the Austrian Joint Stock Companies<br />

Act.<br />

In the pending proceedings, the court examines if the contested<br />

resolutions are to be declared null and void or are lawful resolutions.<br />

In these proceedings, the court will not make a decision on<br />

the adequacy of the cash compensation offered by UniCredit to<br />

minority shareholders of BA-CA for their bearer shares. A review of<br />

the adequacy of the cash compensation can only be applied for after<br />

registration of the shareholders’ resolution in the Austrian Register of<br />

Firms. Such a review procedure would not relate to BA-CA AG but to<br />

the shareholders’ sphere.<br />

Proceedings before the Austrian Takeover Commission<br />

Following an application by one shareholder in BA-CA AG, the Austrian<br />

Takeover Commission, by its decision dated 16 April <strong>2007</strong>,<br />

initiated proceedings against UniCredit and BA-CA AG. As far as<br />

BA-CA AG is concerned, the object of these proceedings is to ascertain<br />

if the statement made by the Management Board of BA-CA AG<br />

in September 2005 was in compliance with the legal requirements or<br />

if material parts of the statement, especially with regard to Bank BPH<br />

remaining within the BA-CA Group in the future, were incomplete,<br />

misleading or incorrect. Since initiating the proceedings, the Austrian<br />

Takeover Commission has not taken any further steps.<br />

(61) Information on the squeeze-out<br />

pursuant to the Austrian Federal Act<br />

on the Squeeze-out of Minority Shareholders<br />

(Gesellschafterausschluss-<br />

gesetz) of the holders of bearer shares<br />

in Bank Austria Creditanstalt AG<br />

On 26 March <strong>2007</strong>, the fair cash compensation for the squeeze-out<br />

was set at € 129.40 per bearer share. The cash compensation was<br />

determined on the basis of a report by “Deloitte Valuation Services<br />

GmbH”. The Commercial Court of Vienna appointed the audit firm<br />

“TPA Horwath Wirtschaftsprüfung GmbH” as auditor. In its report<br />

dated 27 March <strong>2007</strong>, the auditor confirmed the correctness of the<br />

Joint <strong>Report</strong> of UniCredit and of the Management Board of Bank Austria<br />

Creditanstalt AG as well as the adequacy of the cash compensation<br />

offered by UniCredit. The cash compensation applies to about<br />

3.65% of the share capital or 7.4 million bearer shares (7,374,016)<br />

in free float.<br />

The <strong>Annual</strong> General Meeting of Bank Austria Creditanstalt AG on<br />

3 May <strong>2007</strong> adopted a resolution concerning the planned squeeze-out.<br />

(62) Financial derivatives<br />

Derivatives are classified as interest rate contracts, foreign exchange<br />

contracts, securities-related contracts, credit derivatives and other<br />

derivatives (commodities), according to the underlying financial in-<br />

Bank Austria · <strong>2007</strong> <strong>Annual</strong> <strong>Report</strong> 201

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