Client Alert
January 2017, new rules in financial business activities
The law on financial business activities in FBiH (law) aims at protecting and improving the position of small and medium-sized enterprises acting as creditors in financial transactions....
Competition council investigations – Brief practical instruction manual
The Romanian Competition Council is assessing, (at the request of the Romanian energy regulator ANRE): (i) the manner by which energy prices are established on the centralized market (OPCOM); (ii) OPCOM's activities generally in the month of January 2017; and (iii) two transactions between yet-unidentified parties in particular. The energy price for the day ahead market ("PZU") for the first week of January was between 184.7 lei / Mhw and 279.6 lei/Mhw, and thereafter rose to 509.2 lei Mhw on 28th of January, with certain suspicious transactions appearing to have been concluded at higher-than-normal prices....
The European account preservation order at a glance – 7 questions & 7 answers
The EU Regulation No 655/2014 of 15 May 2014 established a European Account Preservation Order (“EAPO”). The Regulation became applicable as of 18 January 2017 within the EU except for the United Kingdom and Denmark ....
Claims settlement order in bankruptcy proceedings declared unconstitutional
The Constitutional Court of FBiH has found that the current order of settlement of workers' claims in bankruptcy proceedings is unconstitutional....
Improving the position of secured creditors under registered pledges in Bulgaria
Almost two decades after being adopted following the model of the World Bank and UNCITRAL for non-possessory registered pledges, the Special Pledges Act (the "Act") was substantially amended at the end of 2016. Most of the amendments take immediate effect while those concerning the digitalization of the Central Register of Special Pledges (the "Register") will come into force on 1 September 2018....
The first action plan for the application of the GDPR has been published by the Romanian data protection authority
WHAT IS TO BE DONE BY DATA CONTROLLERS? On September 21st, 2017, the National Supervisory Authority for Personal Data Processing ("RDPA") published on its website a Guidance regarding the application of the General Data Protection Regulation (the "Guidance"), for the benefit of the data controllers performing personal data processing activities that fall under the jurisdiction of the Romanian law....
New aid scheme for energy based on biomass, biogas, and geothermal source
THE RELEVANT NUMBERS The Romanian Government approved (effective as of 14 April of this year) a State aid scheme which is aimed at stimulating investments in an area which both government officials and market players view as insufficiently developed – the production of energy (power and/or heat) from biomass, biogas, and geothermal sources....
Draft law to watch: mandatory electronic mailboxes for professionals
The Romanian Senate adopted a draft law regarding the "electronic headquarters of economic operators" (the "Draft Law"). The Draft Law regulates the mandatory use by professionals of predefined electronic mailboxes (e-mails), as identification element and means of receiving correspondence....
Amendments to EU council regulation on the EU trade mark enter into force on 1 October 2017
On 23 March 2016, new regulations to the EU's Trademark Directive entered into force with Directive EU 2015/2424 of the European Parliament and of the Council. Based upon secondary legislation, a number of further provisions will be effective as of 1 October 2017 and shall facilitate the application of trade marks in Europe....
The national bank of Ukraine continues easing exchange control regulations
The end of winter brought a number of measures promoted by the National Bank of Ukraine (the "NBU") and aimed at easing and deregulating exchange control regulations. In particular, Ukrainian individuals have been de jure permitted to make foreign investments and freely use foreign bank accounts using funds other than those transferred from Ukraine. Even though the measure by the NBU is not a full scale liberalisation measure, the market still considers it to be a positive trend toward deregulation....
Revised Slovenian civil procedure – A step closer to faster dispute resolution?
The amended Slovenian Civil Procedure Act ("ZPP-E") will enter into force on 14 September 2017 and will govern all proceedings initiated after this date....
First successful investment treaty claim over subsidy cuts to renewable energy investments
Since 2013, several investment treaty claims have been filed in the field of renewable energy against European member states based upon alleged breach of the Energy Charter Treaty....