Client Alert

Directive (EU) 2016/943 “on the protection of undisclosed know-how and business information (trade secrets) against their unlawful acquisition, use and disclosure”, adopted on 8 June 2016, will be implemented in Austria by an amendment to the Federal Act against Unfair Competition (UWG) and is to enter into force on 1 February 2019. With the implementation […]...

Die am 8.6.2016 verabschiedete Richtlinie (EU) 2016/943 “über den Schutz vertraulichen Know-hows und vertraulicher Geschäftsinformationen (Geschäftsgeheimnisse) vor rechtswidrigem Erwerb sowie rechtswidriger Nutzung und Offenlegung” wird in Österreich durch eine Novelle zum Gesetz gegen den unlauteren Wettbewerb (UWG) umgesetzt und soll mit 1.2.2019 in Kraft treten. Mit der Umsetzung der Geschäftsgeheimnis-RL der EU wird der Schutz […]...

The Polish Parliament recently adopted the Act of 6 December 2018 on amendment to the Civil Code (the “Act”), which may be of significance to many financial institutions and borrowers. The Act provides that long-term loans granted by financial institutions will no longer be exempt from the prohibition on charging compound interest (zakaz anatocyzmu). Polish […]...

Triggering intense emotions and protestation, the bill related to the amendment of the Hungarian Labour Code has been accepted by the Parliament on the 12th of December 2018, and after signature by the President of the Republic entered into effect as of 1 January 2019. In the attached, we summarize the most furiously and frequently […]...

Following the implementation of several new provisions of Austrian trademark law in 2017, the second amendment completely implements the EU Trademark Directive in the Austrian Trademark Act (MSchG). It modernizes the concept of trademarks in Austrian law and eases access to the legal protection system. The amendment to the Austrian Trademark Act entered into force on 14 January 2019....

On 31 December 2018, the Central Register of Ultimate Beneficial Owners (“Central Register”) has been established with the Serbian Business Register Agency (“BRA”). Serbian companies, institutions, as well as branches and representative offices established by foreign investors in Serbia, are among the entities designated by the Serbian Law on Central Register as entities whose legal […]...

On 8th of January 2019 the Rules for Implementation of the Anti-Money Laundering Act (in Bulgarian: Правилник за прилагане на Закона за мерките срещу изпирането на пари) have been published. This is the key piece of legislation that was missing from the framework introduced into the Bulgarian law with the transposition of 4th EU AML […]...

On 1 January 2019, important amendments of the Trade Unions Act came into force enabling individuals engaged under civil law contracts, in particular contractors or self-employed individuals, to set up or join trade unions, provided that such individuals do not employ other persons for the same kind of work they perform for the employer. Consequently, […]...

The Polish Parliament has adopted an act that became effective 1 January 2019 and shortens the retention period of human resource files and allows them to be stored in an electronic form. HOW LONG TO STORE EMPLOYMENT DOCUMENTATION? Former law required employers to store documentation related to an employee and the employment relationship (“employee documentation”) […]...

The Bulgarian Council of Ministers adopts an amitious action plan for State Concessions 2019-2020, providing the launch of tenders for major ports and airports. In the context of the pending procedure for Concession of Sofia Airport, the Bulgarian Government affirmed its interest in developing public-private partnerships through concessions in the next couple of years. On […]...

On 03 December 2018, the Bulgarian Supreme Court of Cassation (“SCC”) published an interpretative judgement under case No. 1/2017 (the “Judgment”), where the Court provides long awaited guidance concerning insolvency proceedings. The Judgment addresses nine questions which were inconsistently resolved by lower courts. Bulgaria has been widely criticized for its inefficient and unreliable insolvency proceedings, […]...

EU Directive 2016/1148 on Security of Network and Information Systems (the “NIS Directive”) regulates the main EU legislative framework, which aims to achieve a high common level of network and information systems security across the European Union. The NIS Directive applies to so-called Operators of Essential Services (“OESs”) acting in sectors that heavily rely on […]...