Securities and Exchange Commission
Washington, D.C. 20549
SCHEDULE 13D
Under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
(Amendment No. 4)
INFORMATION TO BE INCLUDED IN STATEMENTS FILED PURSUANT TO
RULE 13d-1(a) AND AMENDMENTS THERETO FILED PURSUANT TO RULE 13d-2(a)
Aberdeen Australia Equity Fund, Inc.
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(Name of Issuer)
Common Stock, par value $.01 per share
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(Title of Class of Securities)
318652104
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(CUSIP Number)
Moritz Sell
Bankgesellschaft Berlin AG
Alexanderplatz 2
D-10178 Berlin
Germany
+44.20.7572.6200
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(Name, Address and Telephone Number of Person
Authorized to Receive Notices and Communications)
May 21, 2003
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(Date of Event which Requires
Filing of this Statement)
If the filing person has previously filed a statement on Schedule 13G to report
the acquisition which is the subject of this Schedule 13D, and is filing this
schedule because of Rule 13d-1(b)(3) or (4), check the following box. [ ]
Page 1 of 4 Pages
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CUSIP No.: 318652104 13D Page 2 of 4 Pages
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1 NAME OF REPORTING PERSON
S.S. OR I.R.S. ID NO. OF ABOVE PERSON
Bankgesellschaft Berlin AG
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2 CHECK THE APPROPRIATE BOX IF A MEMBER OF (a) [ ]
A GROUP (b) [ ]
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3 SEC USE ONLY
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4 SOURCE OF FUNDS WC
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5 CHECK BOX IF DISCLOSURE OF LEGAL PROCEEDINGS IS REQUIRED [ ]
PURSUANT TO ITEM 2(d) OR 2(e)
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6 CITIZENSHIP OR PLACE OF ORGANIZATION
Federal Republic of Germany
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SOLE VOTING POWER 5,374,949
NUMBER OF ----------------------------------------------------------
SHARES SHARED VOTING POWER
BENEFICIALLY
OWNED ----------------------------------------------------------
BY EACH SOLE DISPOSITIVE POWER 5,374,949
REPORTING
PERSON ----------------------------------------------------------
WITH SHARED DISPOSITIVE POWER
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11 AGGREGATE AMOUNT BENEFICIALLY OWNED
BY EACH REPORTING PERSON 5,374,949
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12 CHECK IF THE AGGREGATE AMOUNT IN ROW [ ]
(11) EXCLUDES CERTAIN SHARES
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13 PERCENT OF CLASS REPRESENTED BY AMOUNT
IN ROW (11) 32.0%
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14 TYPE OF REPORTING PERSON BK
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This Amendment No. 4 amends and supplements Items 4 and 5(a) and Annex
A of the Statement on Schedule 13D of Bankgesellschaft Berlin AG (the "Bank")
with respect to the shares of Common Stock, par value $.01 per share (the
"Common Stock"), of the Aberdeen Australia Equity Fund, Inc. (the "Fund"). Annex
A sets forth the name, address and principal occupation of each director and
executive officer of the Bank and the name, address, jurisdiction of
incorporation and principal business of each shareholder of the Bank who may be
deemed to be in control of the Bank. All of the individuals listed on Annex A
are citizens of the Federal Republic of Germany. Items not included in this
amendment are not amended and remain as previously reported.
ITEM 4. PURPOSE OF TRANSACTION
In Amendment No. 3 to the Bank's Statement on Schedule 13D with respect
to the Fund, the Bank reported that it intended to request exemptive relief from
the Securities and Exchange Commission, pursuant to subsection 17(b) of the
Investment Company Act of 1940, from certain prohibitions set forth in
subsection 17(a) of the Investment Company Act, in connection with the Bank's
interest in participating in the proposed in-kind tender offer announced by the
Fund on February 19, 2003. On May 21, 2003, the Bank filed a formal application
with the Commission for such relief.
Representatives of the Bank have indicated to the Fund an interest in
having an opportunity to appoint an observer to attend meetings of the Fund's
board of directors, both on a current basis and if the Bank remained a
significant stockholder in the Fund after the completion of any tender offer
made by the Fund. However, while representatives of the Fund have indicated to
the Bank that such an arrangement would be acceptable to the Fund, subject to
the understanding that the Bank's representative would be excluded from the
discussion of matters touching upon the Fund's relationship to the Bank and to
the institution of appropriate confidentiality safeguards, no such observer
arrangement has thus far been implemented. The question of whether such observer
status might be granted following the completion of an in-kind tender offer was
deferred pending a determination of the actual level of the Bank's holdings in
the Fund after the Bank's participation in such an offer.
Except as set forth herein and in the Schedule 13D and amendments
thereto previously filed by the Bank, the Bank has not formulated any plans or
proposals which relate to or would result in any of the transactions described
in paragraphs (a) through (j) of Item 4.
ITEM 5. INTEREST IN SECURITIES OF THE ISSUER
(a) According to the definitive proxy statement relating to the Fund's
2003 annual meeting filed with the Commission by the Fund on March 10, 2003,
there were 16,777,298 shares of Common Stock outstanding. The percentage set
forth in this Item 5(a) was derived using such number. The Bank is the
beneficial owner of 5,374,949 shares of Common Stock, which constitute
approximately 32.0% of the outstanding shares of Common Stock.
Page 3 of 4 Pages
SIGNATURE
After reasonable inquiry and to the best of our knowledge and
belief, we certify that the information set forth in this statement is true,
complete and correct.
Date: May 22, 2003
BANKGESELLSCHAFT BERLIN AG
By: /s/ Dirk Kipp
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Name: Dirk Kipp
Title: Managing Director
By: /s/ Moritz Sell
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Name: Moritz Sell
Title: Director
Page 4 of 4 Pages
ANNEX A
Unless otherwise indicated, the business address for all individuals listed in
this Annex A is Bankgesellschaft Berlin AG, Alexanderplatz 2, 10178 Berlin,
Federal Republic of Germany.
MEMBERS OF THE MANAGING BOARD
NAME AND ADDRESS PRINCIPAL OCCUPATION
Hans-Joerg Vetter Chairman of the Managing Board of Bankgesellschaft Berlin AG
Serge Demoliere Member of the Managing Board of Bankgesellschaft Berlin AG
Dr. Johannes Evers Member of the Managing Board of Bankgesellschaft Berlin AG
Uwe Kruschinski Member of the Managing Board of Bankgesellschaft Berlin AG
Norbert Pawlowski Member of the Managing Board of Bankgesellschaft Berlin AG
Dr. Thomas Veit Member of the Managing Board of Bankgesellschaft Berlin AG
EXECUTIVE OFFICER
NAME AND ADDRESS PRINCIPAL OCCUPATION
Dariush Ghassemi-Moghadam Managing Director of Bankgesellschaft Berlin AG
Unternehmensentwicklung
Klaus Spicker Managing Director of Bankgesellschaft Berlin AG
Recht
Jochen W. Sawahn Managing Director of Bankgesellschaft Berlin AG
Personal
Dr. Uwe-Jens Siegert Managing Director of Bankgesellschaft Berlin AG
Bankgesellschaft Berlin AG
Revision
Hardenbergstrasse 32
D-10623 Berlin
1
Martin Mueller Managing Director of Bankgesellschaft Berlin AG, Berlin and
Treasury General Manager of Bankgesellschaft Berlin AG,
and London Branch
Debt Finance (temporarily)
London Branch
1 Crown Court
Cheapside
GB-London EC2V 6JP
Dirk Kipp Managing Director of Bankgesellschaft Berlin AG
Eigenhandel
Uwe Papesch Managing Director of Bankgesellschaft Berlin AG
Equities
Bartho Schroeder Managing Director of Bankgesellschaft Berlin AG
Business Management
Ludwig Reinhardt Managing Director of Bankgesellschaft Berlin AG
Zins-/Kreditprodukte
Frank-Michael Boenke General Manager of Bankgesellschaft Berlin AG
Bankgesellschaft Berlin AG London Branch
London Branch
1 Crown Court
Cheapside
GB-London EC2V 6JP
Gerhard Roller Managing Director of Bankgesellschaft Berlin AG
Bankgesellschaft Berlin AG
Internationales Geschaft
Hardenbergstrasse 20
D-10623 Berlin
Dr. Christian Engell Managing Director of Bankgesellschaft Berlin AG
Bankgesellschaft Berlin AG
Firmenkunden
Prinzregentenstrasse 25
D-10715 Berlin
Beate Brummel Managing Director of Bankgesellschaft Berlin AG
Kreditbereich Kapitalmarktgeschaft
Ronald Berentin Managing Director of Bankgesellschaft Berlin AG
Bankgesellschaft Berlin AG
Kredit Firmenkunden und Privatkunden
Hardenbergstrasse 21
D-10623 Berlin
2
Dr. Georg Reutter Managing Director of Bankgesellschaft Berlin AG
Bankgesellschaft Berlin AG
Kredit Immobilien BG
Corneliusstr, 7
D-10787 Berlin
Axel Lange Managing Director of Bankgesellschaft Berlin AG
Bankgesellschaft Berlin AG
Kreditbereich IBAG/IBG
Corneliusstr, 7
D-10787 Berlin
Helmut Ramthun Managing Director of Bankgesellschaft Berlin AG
Bankgesellschaft Berlin AG
Compliance
Brunnenstrasse 111
D-13355 Berlin
Dr. Karl-Friedrich Hirschhaeuser Managing Director of Bankgesellschaft Berlin AG
Risikocontrolling
Willi Boehmer Managing Director of Bankgesellschaft Berlin AG
Bankgesellschaft Berlin AG
Finanzen
Brunnenstrasse 111
D-13355 Berlin
Dr. Christian Burmester Managing Director of Bankgesellschaft Berlin AG
Bankgesellschaft Berlin AG
Kreditsekretariat
Brunnenstrasse 111
D-13355 Berlin
Siegfried Schoelper Managing Director of Bankgesellschaft Berlin AG
Bankgesellschaft Berlin AG
Controlling
Brunnenstrasse 111
D-13355 Berlin
Stefan Traegler Managing Director of Bankgesellschaft Berlin AG
Bankgesellschaft Berlin AG
Organisation u. Informationstechnologie
Brunnenstrasse 111
13355 Berlin
Michael Wenzel Managing Director of Bankgesellschaft Berlin AG
Bankgesellschaft Berlin AG
Risikobetreuung
Firmenkunden u. Privatkunden
Hardenbergstrasse 32
D-10623 Berlin
3
Hans-Werner Wilms General Manager of Bankgesellschaft Berlin Invest GmbH
Bankgesellschaft Berlin Investment GmbH
Kurfuerstendamm 201
10719 Berlin
Guenter Laubner General Manager of Bankgesellschaft Berlin Invest GmbH
Bankgesellschaft Berlin Investment GmbH
Kurfuerstendamm 201
10719 Berlin
4
SHAREHOLDERS WHO MAY BE DEEMED TO CONTROL THE BANK
The following shareholders of the Bank may be deemed to control the Bank:
The City of Berlin
Norddeutsche Landesbank Girozentrale NORD/LB, a bank formed under the laws of
Germany, whose principal address is Georgplatz 1, D-30159, Hannover, Germany.
5