Client Alerts
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 dismissal decision can be validly communicated by e-mail
The High Court of Justice of Romania established in Decision no.34/2016, published in the Official Monitor no.18 dated 9 January 2017, that a dismissal decision which an employer communicates by e-mail is validly communicated....
Waste to energy helps to secure Europe’s energy future
Advising in utilities projects that convert waste to energy is just one way that Wolf Theiss helps clients innovate and achieve added value. In advance of his guest presentation in February at the Energy from Waste (EfW) Conference 2017 at the Royal College of Physicians in London, Partner Bryan W. Jardine of Wolf Theiss Bucharest examines the current regulatory and incentive regimes that promote EfW projects in CEE/SEE and takes a look at the wide variation between the different countries....
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....
New warranty regulations for online shops ante portas
Under the current legal situation regarding cross-border business transactions, operators of online shops must provide individual platforms for each EU member state to fulfill all specific national legal requirements. Notwithstanding the technical capabilities of the internet today, it is still not possible to provide just one general online shop for the whole European area. According to the "Flash Eurobarometer 396, 2015" survey, 39% of businesses selling online but not cross-border quote different national contract laws as one of the main obstacles to cross-border sales....
Amendments to the Croatian foreigners act
On 30 June 2017, the Croatian Parliament adopted extensive amendments to the existing Foreigners Act in order to implement relevant EU legislation and clarify certain provisions subject to different interpretation in practice....
Vermeiden Sie einen Ausschluss wegen mangelnder beruflicher Zuverlässigkeit!
Auf Grund des Vorwurfs illegaler Preisabsprachen finden derzeit bei etlichen österreichischen Bauunternehmen Hausdurchsuchungen durch die Wirtschafts- und Korruptionsstaatsanwaltschaft bzw das Bundesamt zur Korruptionsprävention und Korruptionsbekämpfung sowie die Bundeswettbewerbsbehörde statt. Bereits diese Erhebungen bzw die daraus resultierenden Vorwürfe können – für sich alleine – vergaberechtliche Konsequenzen wie den Ausschluss des jeweiligen Unternehmens von laufenden Vergabeverfahren (aufgrund des Verlustes der beruflichen Zuverlässigkeit) nach sich ziehen (etwa wenn aus Sicht eines öffentlichen Auftraggebers eine "schwere berufliche Verfehlung" festgestellt wurde; einer rechtskräftigen Verurteilung bedarf es dazu nicht)....