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Nick Eastwell to join Kinstellar
Kinstellar, a leading law firm for Emerging Europe, is very pleased to announce the appointment of Nick Eastwell from January 2010 as a London based senior consultant. Nick Eastwell was managing partner of Linklaters’ network of offices in Central and Eastern Europe from 1999 through 2003, and between May 2003 and May 2008 was global head of Linklaters’ Capital Markets Department. He was regional managing partner for Linklaters’ Emerging Europe, Middle East and North Africa region from May 2008 to May 2009. Nick has been a specialist in finance and capital markets for nearly 30 years. His particular area of expertise is in emerging markets. He has acted on pioneering issues throughout Europe, Asia, the Middle
An overview of financial assistance rules in Emerging Europe
October 2009 – An overview of financial assistance rules in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Serbia, Slovakia and Romania. CZECH REPUBLIC What is prohibited? Granting advance payments, loans and credits or monetary means by a company for the purpose of acquiring its shares or its parent company’s shares, and granting security by such company for these purposes. Does the prohibition apply to all types of companies? No. The prohibition only applies to limited liability companies (společnost s ručením omezeným -''SRO”) and joint-stock companies (akciová společnost - “AS”). Exceptions SRO[1] : Unless the articles of association provide for other conditions[2], SROs may provide financial
Amendments to the Hungarian Bankruptcy Act
Most new provisions of the Amending Act will enter into force on 1 September 2009 and the new provisions will apply to the proceedings launched after that date. 1 General changes to the provisions on bankruptcy and liquidation proceedings The Amending Act changes several deadlines in the course of the proceedings, which generally results in a shortening of the length of the proceedings. In most (but not all) instances the time limits set out in calendar days will be converted to business days. With one important exception, the intention to shorten the deadlines is actually not expected to result in any significant reduction of the actual period (e.g., the time limit of 8 business days in practice will be 2-3
Implementation of Transparency Directive in the Czech Republic
Important amendment to Act of the Czech Republic No. 256/2004, Capital Markets Act, as subsequently amended (the “CMA”) which among other changes implements the EU Transparency Directive[1] (“TD”) became effective on 1 August 2009 (the “Amendment”).[2] This newsletter summarizes the provisions of the Amendment that implement the TD.[3] These provisions deal with (i) periodic financial reporting and other obligations of an issuer, (ii) major shareholding disclosures, and (iii) the provision of information to investors. The TD and the Amendment only apply to securities which are listed on Regulated Markets and so do not apply to the multilateral trading facility markets. Issuers who list exclusively
Amendment to the Czech Commercial Code lifts the complete ban on financial assistance
From 20 July 2009 an important amendment to the Commercial Code[1] is effective. This amendment breaks the complete prohibition of financial assistance in the acquisition of an interest in a company which would provide the financial assistance[2]. Even after the amendment to the Commercial Code the prohibition applies both to limited liability companies (“LLCs”) and joint stock companies (“JSCs”). Under the amendment, responsibility for the examination of the whole transaction is assumed by members of an executive body. The question whether the option to provide financial assistance under the below specified conditions will be used will therefore largely depend on the willingness of the members of
A mere one-off exchange of information can be in breach of Article 81 of the EC Treaty
In June 2001, representatives of mobile telephone network operators (T‑Mobile, KPN, Orange and Vodafone) met in Holland to discuss a reduction of standard commission paid to dealers for postpaid subscriptions conceived to be implemented approximately in September 2001. The participants further exchanged certain confidential information of a commercial nature. The Dutch antimonopoly authority stated that the mobile telephone network operators entered into an anti-competition agreement or concerted their market conduct. Having found this agreement or conduct as a substantial restriction of competition and consequently as a prohibited practice, the antimonopoly authority imposed fines on the concerned undertakings. The affected
Kinstellar wins Hungarian "Tax Firm of the Year" award
Kinstellar, the leading premium regional law firm for Emerging Europe, is proud to announce that the firm has won the 2009 “Tax Firm of the Year” award for Hungary from International Tax Review, the world’s leading expert publication on tax issues. The prize ceremony was held at the Dorchester Hotel in London on 19 May 2009 at International Tax Review’s fifth annual European Tax Award. Being named “Tax Firm of the Year” in Hungary is a great honour and recognition of Kinstellar’s expertise in tax issues. The award also highlights the high-level of service within Hungary’s legal profession, as all three finalists were law firms offering tax solutions outside the Big Four accounting firms. Gábor
Czech Republic: Guarantees among related parties do not have to be appraised by a court-appointed expert
This article discusses the latest controversial judgement of the Czech Supreme Court which stipulates that guarantees falling under Section 196a of the Czech Commercial Code do not need to be appraised by a court-appointed expert to be valid. Section 196a (1) and (2) stipulate that a Czech limited liability company or a Czech joint-stock company (“Czech Company”) can enter into a loan agreement with (i) its directors, (ii) members of its supervisory board, (iii) its procurement holders or (iv) other persons entitled to conclude such an agreement on behalf of the Czech Company or (v) persons related to persons listed under (i) to (iv) (the “Persons”) or an agreement that secures the obligations of the Persons only