Securities and Exchange Commission
Washington, D.C. 20549
SCHEDULE 13D
Under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
(Amendment No. 7)
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)
February 26, 2004
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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. [ ]
1 of 10 Pages
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CUSIP No.: 465395101 13D Page 2 of 10 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 GROUP (a) [ ]
(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 --------------------------------------------------------
BENEFICIALLY SHARED VOTING POWER
OWNED
BY EACH --------------------------------------------------------
REPORTING SOLE DISPOSITIVE POWER 5,374,949
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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Page 2 of 10 Pages
This Amendment No. 7 (this "Amendment") amends and supplements Item 2, Item 4
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").
Items not included in this amendment are not amended and remain as previously
reported. Annex A sets forth, as of the date of this Amendment, 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.
ITEM 2. IDENTITY AND BACKGROUND
The last sentence of Item 2(a)-(c) of the Bank's Statement on Schedule
13D is hereby replaced with the statement set forth immediately below.
Based on the information about the persons listed on Annex A that is
available to the Bank pursuant to German labor law (including a police
certificate of no criminal record), the Bank is unaware of any information that
would render incorrect the statements in (d) and (e) of Item 2 of the Bank's
Statement on Schedule 13D with respect to the persons listed in Annex A.
ITEM 4. PURPOSE OF TRANSACTION
In Amendment No. 6 to the Bank's Statement on Schedule 13D, the Bank
disclosed its intention to nominate three nominees of the Bank to the Board of
Directors (the "Board") of the Fund at the election scheduled to occur at the
Annual Meeting of Stockholders of the Fund in 2004 (the "2004 Meeting") and to
put forth certain other proposals, including to terminate the Fund's investment
management and investment advisory agreements. The Bank has taken note of the
statements made by the Fund in its 2004 Preliminary Proxy Statement (the
"Preliminary Proxy") filed on February 26, 2004 with the Securities and Exchange
Commission. Specifically, in the Preliminary Proxy the Fund states that it will
seek a stockholder vote on precatory resolutions (the "Resolutions") to amend
its bylaws to establish substantially less restrictive director qualifications
than those currently contained in the bylaws and to provide that directors will
be elected by a plurality of the votes cast, as well as to provide that such
provisions may not be amended in the future without stockholder approval. The
Preliminary Proxy further states that, provided that a plurality of the Fund's
stockholders voting on these proposals vote in favor of them, the Board intends
to amend the bylaws in a manner consistent with such stockholder resolutions and
intends promptly thereafter to increase the size of the Board and to appoint one
representative of the Bank to the Board for a three-year term as a Class I
Director, subject to certain conditions. Separately, on February 18, 2004 the
Fund announced its plans to implement a guaranteed distribution policy.
Page 3 of 10 Pages
In view of these statements by the Fund in its Preliminary Proxy and
its announcement of its revised distribution policy, and provided that the
Fund's proposals are not altered in its definitive proxy statement for the 2004
Meeting and the Fund adheres to its revised distribution policy, the Bank
currently anticipates that it will vote the Fund's shares it owns in favor of
the Resolutions and that it will not move at the 2004 Meeting to (1) terminate
the investment management agreement between the Fund and Aberdeen Asset Managers
(C.I.); (2) terminate the advisory agreement between the Fund and Aberdeen Asset
Management Limited; and (3) nominate three nominees of the Bank to the Fund's
Board, and that the Bank will not solicit proxies from other stockholders in
support of such motions. The Bank may also contact other Fund stockholders to
advocate support of the Resolutions and reserves the right to solicit proxies in
favor of the Resolutions.
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 that relate to or would result in any of the transactions described in
paragraphs (a) through (j) of Item 4.
Page 4 of 10 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: March 5, 2004 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 5 of 10 Pages
ANNEX A
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Unless otherwise indicated, the business address for all individuals listed on
this Annex A is Bankgesellschaft Berlin AG, Alexanderplatz 2, D-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
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 OFFICERS
NAME AND ADDRESS PRINCIPAL OCCUPATION
Willi Boehmer Managing Director of Bankgesellschaft
Bankgesellschaft Berlin AG Berlin AG
Finanzen
Brunnenstrasse 111
D-13355 Berlin
Frank-Michael Boenke General Manager of Bankgesellschaft
Bankgesellschaft Berlin AG Berlin AG London Branch
London Branch
1 Crown Court
Cheapside
GB-London EC2V 6LR
Beate Brummel Managing Director of Bankgesellschaft
Bankgesellschaft Berlin AG Berlin AG
Kreditbereich Kapitalmarktgeschaft
Page 6 of 10 Pages
NAME AND ADDRESS PRINCIPAL OCCUPATION
Dr. Christian Burmester Managing Director of Bankgesellschaft
Bankgesellschaft Berlin AG Berlin AG
Kreditsekretariat
Brunnenstrasse 111
D-13355 Berlin
Arnold Butzer Managing Director of Bankgesellschaft
Bankgesellschaft Berlin AG Berlin AG
Vertrieb Immobilienfinanzierung
Corneliusstr, 7
D-10787 Berlin
Dariush Ghassemi-Moghadam Managing Director of Bankgesellschaft
Bankgesellschaft Berlin AG Berlin AG
Unternehmensentwicklung
Peter Grosse Wiesmann Managing Director of Bankgesellschaft
Bankgesellschaft Berlin AG Berlin AG
Risikobetreuung Immobilien BG
Corneliusstr, 7
D-10787 Berlin
Dr. Karl-Friedrich Hirschhaeuser Managing Director of Bankgesellschaft
Bankgesellschaft Berlin AG Berlin AG
Risikocontrolling
Dirk Kipp Managing Director of Bankgesellschaft
Bankgesellschaft Berlin AG Berlin AG
Eigenhandel
Peter Konig Managing Director of Bankgesellschaft
Bankgesellschaft Berlin AG Berlin AG
Konzernprojekte
Axel Lange Managing Director of Bankgesellschaft
Bankgesellschaft Berlin AG Berlin AG
Kreditbereich IBAG/IBG
Hardenbergstr. 20
D-10623 Berlin
Page 7 of 10 Pages
NAME AND ADDRESS PRINCIPAL OCCUPATION
Martin Mueller Managing Director of Bankgesellschaft
Bankgesellschaft Berlin AG Berlin AG and General Manager
Treasury of Bankgesellschaft Berlin AG,
Alexanderplatz 2 London Branch
D-10178 Berlin
and
Debt Finance (temporarily)
London Branch
1 Crown Court
Cheapside
GB-London EC2V 6LR
Uwe Papesch Managing Director of Bankgesellschaft
Bankgesellschaft Berlin AG Berlin AG
Equities
Thomas Paulick Managing Director of Bankgesellschaft
Bankgesellschaft Berlin AG Berlin AG
IT
Brunnenstr. 111
D-13355 Berlin
Helmut Ramthun Managing Director of Bankgesellschaft
Bankgesellschaft Berlin AG Berlin AG
Compliance
Brunnenstrasse 111
D-13355 Berlin
Ludwig Reinhardt Managing Director of Bankgesellschaft
Zins-/Kreditprodukte Berlin AG
Dr. Georg Reutter Managing Director of Bankgesellschaft
Bankgesellschaft Berlin AG Berlin AG
Kredit Immobilien BG
Corneliusstr, 7
D-10787 Berlin
Gerhard Roller Managing Director of Bankgesellschaft
Bankgesellschaft Berlin AG Berlin AG
Internationales Geschaft
Alexanderplatz 2
D-10178 Berlin
Page 8 of 10 Pages
NAME AND ADDRESS PRINCIPAL OCCUPATION
Jochen W. Sawahn Managing Director of Bankgesellschaft
Bankgesellschaft Berlin AG Berlin AG
Personal
Siegfried Schoelper Managing Director of Bankgesellschaft
Bankgesellschaft Berlin AG Berlin AG
Controlling
Brunnenstrasse 111
D-13355 Berlin
Bartho Schroeder Managing Director of Bankgesellschaft
Bankgesellschaft Berlin AG Berlin AG
Business Management
Dr. Uwe-Jens Siegert Managing Director of Bankgesellschaft
Bankgesellschaft Berlin AG Berlin AG
Revision
Hardenbergstrasse 32
D-10623 Berlin
Klaus Spicker Managing Director of Bankgesellschaft
Bankgesellschaft Berlin AG Berlin AG
Recht
Stefan Traegler Managing Director of Bankgesellschaft
Bankgesellschaft Berlin AG Berlin AG
Organisation u. Informationstechnologie
Brunnenstrasse 111
13355 Berlin
Page 9 of 10 Pages
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.
Page 10 of 10 Pages