Client Alerts
German Federal Constitutional Court (BVerfG) delays establishment of the Unified Patent Court
In 2017, a constitutional complaint was lodged with the German Federal Constitutional Court (BVerfG) against the law approving the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court. This law was intended to create the conditions for ratification of the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court (UPCA) by Germany. Since without ratification by Germany the UPC will not […]...
North Macedonia implements the GDPR
North Macedonia’s new Law on Personal Data Protection (LPDP) represents an important step for the country’s modernization of its data privacy framework and alignment with European law. The LPDP creates significant new obligations for data controllers and processors within North Macedonia and many businesses outside of the country that have ties to it. To learn […]...
Trademark opposition system introduced in Serbia
Serbia has created a new Trademark Law in order to implement a more efficient trademark protection system and to align the national legal framework with EU Directives and other developments in Serbian law. The most significant change to the law is the introduction of the long-awaited trademark opposition system, which permits the holder of a […]...
Are Polish distressed assets selling more smoothly?
CAN DISTRESSED ASSETS BE DISPOSED OF MORE QUICKLY DURING THE UPCOMING ECONOMIC DOWNTURN? On 24 March 2020, amendments to the Polish bankruptcy law came into force, including the amendments regarding pre-packaged sales. The pre-pack sale procedure was highly praised by restructuring practitioners a few years ago, but what are experts saying now? Lech Giliciński and […]...
The new legal framework for Ukrainian cross-border taxation enters into force
On 21 May 2020, the President of Ukraine signed the Law of Ukraine “On Amendments to the Tax Code of Ukraine on Improvement of Tax Administration, Elimination of Technical and Logical Inconsistencies in Tax Legislation” (the “Law”), which was passed by the Parliament on 16 January 2020. To learn more, please open the attached file....
Czech Republic aims to strengthen the control of foreign investments
On 6 April 2020, the Czech Government approved a draft law establishing rules and procedures for the screening of foreign investments in the Czech Republic. The draft law empowers the Ministry of Industry and Trade to prohibit the investment or set specific conditions to be fulfilled by the investors. Even if the investment has already […]...
Questions still remain for UK insurance undertakings in Bulgaria post-Brexit
In the increasingly likely event of a no-deal Brexit, many questions remain for UK insurance undertakings in Bulgaria. Apart from regulatory treatment aspects, a no-deal Brexit raises many other legal questions such as the application of choice of law and jurisdiction rules, data migration & protection rules, competition rules and other legal issues which are […]...
Poland set to introduce specialized courts in July 2020
On 19 February 2020, the Polish President signed an act that amends the Code of Civil Procedure along with other existing acts that impact the adjudication of IP cases, among other areas of law (“the Act”). The Act will enter into force on 1 July 2020, and the courts will be operational from this date. […]...
Global legal insights – Mergers & Acquisitions 2020
A team of M&A and regulatory Partners at Wolf Theiss (Sarah Wared, Hartwig Kienast, Horst Ebhardt, Florian Kusznier, Christian Mikosch and Kurt Retter) has analysed the roller-coaster M&A environment in Austria over the last 12 months for Global Legal Insights - Mergers & Acquisitions 2020. The summary sheds light on the main M&A trends in 2019 and how Covid-19 has impacted deal-making, including a discussion of the new risk assessment approaches both at the outset of transactions and in dealing with rising pre-closing volatility. It also contains a preview on the new Foreign Direct Investment Control Act which will come into force in July 2020 and which will significantly expand the scope of transactions that require FDI clearance going forward....
Romania: Amendments to companies law no. 31/1990
Romania has amended the Companies Law no. 31/1990, and important changes enter into force on 6 July 2020, which include the following: Natural or legal entities can now hold participations as a sole shareholder in multiple Romanian limited liability companies Limited liability companies can be held by other limited liability companies which are solely owned […]...
Ukraine: New investment and financial markets law
The Ukrainian capital market has been in poor condition for quite some time and could arguably be described as not existing at all. However, there may be a breakthrough, at least on the legal side, which could help the Ukrainian capital market, involving stocks, bonds, derivatives and other instruments, to make a significant leap forward […]...
Further tightening of foreign direct investment screening in Hungary
On 17 June 2020, the Hungarian Parliament reconfirmed in a new act the rules adopted by the Hungarian Government earlier in May 2020 which substantially expanded the requirements for all foreign investors to seek prior ministerial approval for their investments in Hungarian companies engaged in certain strategic industries. The strategic industries covered by the screening […]...