Client Alert
DIisclosure of beneficial ownership of companies in the EU – Member state public registers
On 20 May 2015 the European Parliament adopted on second reading the fourth directive addressing the threat of money laundering, i.e. the Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purpose of money laundering and terrorist financing (the `AML Directive`) which is expected to be published in the Official Journal by the end of July 2015 and will enter into force twenty (20) days after publication....
New amendments to Romanian forestry regulations
After lengthy debate, on 10 June 2015, law no. 133 amending the Romanian Forestry Code was published in the Official Gazette ("Law no. 133"). Certain of the principal amendments introduced by Law no. 133 are analyzed below....
Amendments to Ukrainian laws concerning disclosure of beneficial owners
Ukrainian law concerning the requirement to disclose beneficial owners of Ukrainian companies has been amended. The general requirement to disclose beneficial (controlling) owners of companies was introduced in Autumn 2014 with effect from 25 November .2014. In this regard, the law defined the beneficial (controlling) owners of a company as a person (persons) exercising (directly or indirectly) decisive influence on the management or business activity of the company, irrespective of possessing a formal right thereto, including through direct or indirect holding (personally or jointly with related legal entities / individuals) 25% of shareholding or voting rights in such company...
New regime for ownership of agricultural land by REITs with non EU/EEA shareholders
Recent amendments of the Public Offering of Securities Act (`POSA`) introduced a new regime for ownership of agricultural land by Bulgarian REITs with non-EU/EEA shareholders - such REITs are now allowed to own agricultural land in Bulgaria....
Corporate and tax alert – Poland – June 8
2015 brought significant changes in the field of corporate law. The two most important laws for the operation of businesses, the Act on the National Commercial Register and the Commercial Companies Code, received long-awaited amendments in December 2014 and January 2015. Additionally, two rulings important for entrepreneurs have been delivered: the Supreme Court ruling on a joint irregular proxy, and the European Court of Justice ruling on imposing a tax on civil-law transactions of partnerships limited by shares. The first has fuelled discussions over the widespread use of this form of a company`s representation and the latter enables partnerships limited by shares to reclaim overpaid tax on civil law transactions....
Significant deregulation developments in Ukraine`s legal framework
On 5 April 2015 the Law of Ukraine "On the Introduction of Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine on the Simplification of Conditions for the Conduct of Business (Deregulation)" No. 191 dated 12 February 2015 came into force. The Law improves regulation of the status of agricultural land, administrative procedures, seizure of electronic media in the course of criminal proceedings, etc....
Cancellation of franchising agreement registration requirements
The legal regulation of franchising caught close attention of Ukrainian state authorities during the past twelve months. The developments introduced into the legal framework have been of positive nature, which should be helpful for parties to franchising ar-rangements. We are happy to let you know that Olena Vardamatska, Associate of the Wolf Theiss Kyiv office, was involved in working on these legislative changes....
New investment claim against the Republic of Bulgaria in the energy sector
On 26.05.2015 the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (`ICSID`) in Washington D.C., USA registered a new request for the institution of arbitration proceedings against the Republic of Bulgaria. The claimant is the Czech company ENERGO-PRO a.s....
Additional competences to the Bulgarian drug agency provided by the amendments of the medical devices act
On 26th May 2015, the Amendment and Supplement to the Medical Devices Act ("MDA") entered into force, following its publication in the State Gazette....
European commission launched e-commerce sector inquiry
After the announcement of the European Commissioner for Competition, Margrethe Vestager, to initiate a sector inquiry for the e-commerce markets in March, the European Commission launched an antitrust competition inquiry into the e-commerce sector on May 6th. Competition sector inquiries are used by the European Commission (`EC`) as a non-company investigative tool in areas where the EU single market integration is often faced with obstacles....
Orphan works – a first-time regulation in Bulgaria
Orphan works are works or phonograms first published in the European Union (EU) and protected by copyright or related rights where the proprietor cannot be identified or, if identified, cannot be located despite a diligent and duly documented search....
Czech Republic: Amendment to the energy act
On April, 10 2015 the Chamber of Deputies approved a draft amendment to the Energy Act. At this moment we are waiting for amendment approval by the Senate (the Senate meeting is scheduled from 13 May 2015). If the Senate would return the Amendment to the House of Deputies, the House of Deputies have had to accept the Amendment by a constitutional majority, which seems at the moment very unlikely. It is therefore difficult to assess whether the amendment eventually even in this wording comes into force. The amendment could bring positive change including a substantial reduction of administrative burden for entrepreneurs and small producers of electricity....