A regional court in Vienna has overturned a decision by a lower court judge earlier this month, paving the way for an arrest warrant to be issued for Austrian financier Wolfgang Flottl, who once commanded a Bermuda trading empire.

Austrian news reports yesterday said an earlier failed request from Viennese public prosecutors could now lead to an arrest warrant.

Mr. Flottl, who through a lawyer earlier this month told he is guilty of no wrongdoing, is wanted in connection with a $1 billion loss sustained by the Austrian trade union owned bank, Bank fur Arbeit und Wirtschaft (Bawag). The bank was formerly run by his father, Walter Flottl.

And it is believed prosecutors are seeking Mr. Flottl?s arrest in connection with alleged fraudulent dealings that may have led to the Bawag loss, a loss that only recently was made public.

Mr. Flottl, who now spends most of his time in Manhattan, owns Tucker?s Town estate Castlepoint and once ran thriving trading firms on the Island, including Ross Capital Markets and International Asset Management, amongst others.

Earlier this month it was revealed in Austria that Mr. Flottl entered into an agreement in 2000 with Bawag to hand over properties and assets worth several hundred million dollars. The agreement included Castlepoint and a second Tucker?s Town property, Sounion West, that Mr. Flottl appears to be the beneficial owner of. Sounion West was sold to Bermudian Julie Jones, who was Mr. Flottl?s secretary, in the 1990s. However, he continues to have full use of the property, including agreeing to hand it over in the Bawag agreement, as part settlement for his debts.

The sale may have skirted Bermuda immigration laws because Mr. Flottl was only given permission, as an expatriate, to own one home. Mrs. Jones in an earlier telephone interview said the transaction was legal.