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Uzbekistan introduces amendments to banks’ capitalisation requirements and liberalises access to their ownership by non-residents
On 19 April 2023, the President of Uzbekistan signed law No. ЗРУ-831, which came into force on 20 April 2023 and introduced changes to the law “[o]n banks and banking activities” (the “Amended Banking Law”). Law on Banking The Amended Banking Law (i) increases the minimum charter capital requirement for banks and (ii) lifts certain restrictions on ownership of bank shares by non-residents of Uzbekistan. Increased charter capital requirements The Amended Banking Law increases the requirements for the minimum amount of charter capital of banks in Uzbekistan from UZS 100 billion to UZS 500 billion (from approximately USD 8,780,000 to USD 43,898,000 as of 1 May 2023) within the following timeline:
Kinstellar announces new promotions to Partner and Counsel
Kinstellar is delighted and proud to announce the promotions to Partner of Tomáš Melišek (Bratislava), Levente Hegedűs (Budapest), Bulut Girgin (Istanbul), Anastasiya Bolkhovitinova, Natalia Kirichenko, Oleg Matiusha, Illya Muchnyk (all in our Kyiv office), and to Counsel of Dominika Bajzáthová (Bratislava). PARTNERS Tomá š Melišek, Bratislava Tomáš is the Head of the local Banking & Finance service line. He has 15 years of experience in banking and finance, focusing on project and acquisition financing as well as on financial regulations. Tomáš has substantial experience advising clients on significant financing transactions in the areas of real estate, energy, infrastructure, automotive, media
Kinstellar announces new promotions in Bucharest, Romania
Kinstellar is delighted to announce the promotion to Managing Associate of Mădălina Perțe (Corporate M&A), Andrei Covaliu (Dispute Resolution) and Răzvan Constantinescu (Banking and Finance), and to Senior Associate of Raluca Constantin (Dispute Resolution). These promotions come as a recognition of their contribution to our office’s recent development and their commitment to delivering exceptional value to our clients. Mădălina Perțe specializes in Corporate / M&A matters where she has dealt with various assignments. She has also been involved in multiple due diligence exercises and regularly advises companies on daily housekeeping matters. Mădălina’s expertise extends to capital
Kinstellar advises Crédit Agricole Consumer Finance and Stellantis on the acquisition of LeasePlan’s operations in the Czech Republic
Kinstellar, in collaboration with Linklaters, has successfully advised Crédit Agricole Consumer Finance and Stellantis on their acquisition of the Czech operations of LeasePlan from ALD Automotive. The deal follows ALD's announcement in January 2022 of its intention to acquire 100% of LeasePlan. Kinstellar successfully advised on the Czech aspects of the transaction. This strategic acquisition includes ALD's operations in Ireland, Norway, and Portugal, as well as LeasePlan's business activities in the Czech Republic, Finland, and Luxembourg. It marks a significant step forward in Crédit Agricole Consumer Finance and Stellantis' pursuit of growth in the mobility and long-term vehicle leasing sectors. The disposals align
The Law on Payment Services: Overview of rules for Ukrainian payment services market
The Law of Ukraine "On Payment Services" creating a new legal landscape for the provision of payment services in Ukraine, came into force on 1 August 2022. At the same time, certain provisions of the law, which mostly relate to open banking, will become effective in 2025. Click on one of the images below to read the whole overview of the main provisions of the law, or click use the following links to read in English or in Ukrainian. Download in English: Download in Ukrainian:
Kinstellar advises BRD-Groupe Société Générale on a EUR 24.3 million green financing in western Romania
Kinstellar is delighted to announce that it has successfully advised BRD-Groupe Société Générale SA on a EUR 24.3 million financing for the development of two green residential buildings by the Belgian property developer Speedwell in western Romania (Timișoara). The financing has been structured by BRD in accordance with the LMA Green Loans Principles and the provisions of the Substantial Contribution Criteria of the EU Taxonomy for mitigating climate-change risks applicable to this type of development. BRD is confident that these two “green” buildings located in a premium location in Timișoara will set new quality standards for addressing climate-change challenges, proving once again that the ESG standard
Cryptocurrency exchanges: how to choose a reliable one?
Investing in crypto assets is a high-risk activity. The existing structure of the crypto market, its supervision and its participants, is currently such that it cannot guarantee the security of funds, even for the customers of the best-known and, seemingly, best-protected exchanges. Given these inherent risks, there are several aspects that should be considered when choosing an exchange. In a recent interview with Minfin.com.ua, a Ukrainian portal on finances and investments, Illya Muchnyk, Counsel in our Kyiv office, shared his views on possible ways to secure funds when investing in cryptocurrencies. Read the full article here (in Ukrainian only).
Kinstellar advises OTP Bank on the successful acquisition of Ipoteka Bank in Uzbekistan
Kinstellar is proud to have advised OTP Bank, Hungary’s largest commercial bank and one of the largest independent financial service providers in Central and Eastern Europe, on the successful acquisition of Uzbekistan’s fifth-largest bank, Ipoteka Bank, with an 8.5% market share, more than 1.6 million retail customers and a significant roster of corporate clientele. Having worked together previously on several successful transactions in Hungary and in the CEE region, OTP mandated Kinstellar to handle its first acquisition in Central Asia. The deal involved four Kinstellar offices: Hungary, Uzbekistan, Serbia and Ukraine. According to the sale and purchase agreement signed on 12 December 2022, OTP Bank will
Žurić i Partneri (ŽiP) Kinstellar advises on the acquisition of Insite by Halcom
Our team in Croatia has advised former shareholders of Insite on the sale of shares to Halcom, a leading provider of innovative solutions for payment systems. Insite is an experienced and innovative supplier of CRM systems to the banking, insurance, and retail sectors. Their CRM solution has been successfully recognised for ten years by some of the largest European banks and retailers. Halcom, as a division of Juniper Group, is part of the multinational group Constellation Software Inc. Halcom plays a leading role in developing payment systems in Central and South-Eastern Europe and ranks among the top providers of innovative and secure payment and financial services. The Kinstellar team in Zagreb
Kinstellar appoints new Service and Sector Heads
Kinstellar supports professional growth by offering a broad range of career development opportunities for our team including Sector/Service line head or co-head roles. We provide growth opportunities to all of our talented lawyers with relevant experience and who have an outstanding track record. We believe in an inclusive recruitment process where we create an equitable application, interview and selection process. We are delighted to announce the appointments of the following sector and service line heads: Müfit Arapoğlu, a Partner in the Istanbul office, is the firm-wide Financial Institutions (non-transactional) Sector Co-Head and the firm-wide Head of Banking, Finance & Capital Markets (service line).
Kinstellar advises Unilink on its acquisition of INSIA
Kinstellar has successfully advised Unilink Group on its acquisition of the majority of ownership shares in INSIA, a network of insurance and mortgage brokers in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Unilink Group acquired 80% of the network from global professional services firm Marsh. Together with its recent acquisitions of Safety Broker in Romania and Moldova and I&G Brokers in Bulgaria, Unilink has created the largest insurance distribution platform in six CEE countries, with a volume of premiums brokered of EUR 1 billion. The value of the deal has not been disclosed. The Kinstellar team was headed by Jan Juroška (Partner) and Michal Kníž (Managing Associate) and included Denisa Šimanská (Associate)
Kinstellar strengthens its Corporate M&A team in Hungary with the appointment of Annamária Csenterics as Partner
10 October 2022 – Kinstellar is delighted to announce that Annamária Csenterics has joined the firm’s Budapest office as a Partner and Co-Head of the local Corporate M&A service line. Annamária Csenterics is an experienced Corporate M&A practitioner with a career spanning 20 years at international law firms and as an in-house lawyer. She has served as lead counsel on scores of domestic and cross-border mergers, acquisitions, dispositions, joint ventures and strategic transactions, including spin-offs, split-offs and exits. Her clients have included corporations as well as private clients domiciled in the US, Europe and Hungary. Annamária will co-head the local Corporate M&A service line, including Real Estate