Bitcoin exchange VirWoX is controlled by a well known Austrian law firm that is specialized in banking and business law.
VirWoX is operated by Virtual World Services GmbH in Vienna, Austria, which is owned by HBA Beteiligungs GmbH, an investment vehicle that was registered at the address of law firm HBA (Held Berdnik Astner & Partner Rechtsanwälte GmbH) based in Graz.
HBA was founded by Dr. Guido Held (born 1944), a well connected Austrian lawyer who recently received 4,6 Mio. Euro from the Austrian Ministry of Finance to investigate the failure of the Austrian bank Hypo Alpe Adria. He was president of the Styrian Chamber of Lawyers and candidate for the Austrian Parliament (Link: PDF, page 21) for the Austrian Conservatives (ÖVP). The current Minister of Finance is also member of ÖVP. HBA employs about 50 lawyers with offices in Graz, Vienna and Klagenfurt.
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http://imfed.org/2012/12/03/austrian-banking-lawyers-invest-in-bitcoin-exchange/In our opinion VirWoX's business model (trading BTC only with "playmoney currency" SLL) has the lowest risk of being shut down by a government for regulatory reasons. A high profile law firm as official owner (or trustee) should be able to sustain low compliance risk.
What do you think? Are banking lawyers the right owners for a Bitcoin exchange?