Publications
December 2012 - Transparency International (TI) released its 2012 Corruption Perception Index (CPI) this week. The 2012 CPI surveys 176 countries and territories (seven fewer than last year).
October 2012 – Effective from 1 January 2013, Hungary will impose tax on insurance premiums. The new insurance premium tax (IPT) regime will have extraterritorial effect, taxing insurance premiums collected by non-Hungarian insurance companies insuring Hungarian risks on a freedom-of-services (FOS) basis (in addition to taxing Hungarian subsidiaries and branches of foreign insurers as well).
August 2012 – The Hungarian Metropolitan Court of Appeal handed down two judgments that ruled that the passing-on defence applies to damages claims made under Hungarian law. According to the court, the plaintiff is not entitled to compensation for costs that have been recovered from elsewhere. Therefore, loss that was passed on by the plaintiff to the other parties will not be deemed as loss for the purposes of calculating damages.
On 29 March 2012, the Hungarian Competition Office issued a decision by which it approved the creation of a joint venture for the provision of mobile phone services. The newly established joint venture company, MPVI, intends to provide mobile radio telephone services on the basis of its right to use a frequency.
An amendment to the Slovak Insolvency Code has been recently approved by the Parliament (the “Amendment“). The Amendment, which is considered to be the most significant amendment to the current Slovak Insolvency Code since its introduction back in 2006, seeks to revise those provisions of the Insolvency Code that have proven to be problematic in their application, or less effective than originally intended.
A recent second instance judgment by the Metropolitan Court of Appeal (“Court of Appeal”) provides some interesting insight into the court’s approach in cartel matters. The case before the Court of Appeal concerned the second instance review of a first instance judgment that annulled certain parts of the decision of the Hungarian Competition Office (the “HCO”).
In May 2011, the Serbian parliament adopted a new company law, which is scheduled to take effect on 1 February 2012 (hereinafter: the “New Company Law”). The new legislation will replace the current company law that has been in force since 2004 (hereinafter: the “Old Company Law”).
Following the EU-wide initiatives for the introduction of special levies and taxes on financial institutions, the Slovak draft “Act on Special Levy for Selected Financial Institutions” aims to introduce a levy on the banks and branches of foreign banks in Slovakia. This article gives a short overview of the draft Bill.
The new Bribery Act 2010 (the “Bribery Act”) came into force on 1 July 2011 in the UK. If your company is doing business in the UK, it is definitely worth taking some time and paying some attention to this new piece of legislation. The main reason is its extra-territorial reach. The Bribery Act applies not only to UK companies but also to any company (whether public or private) doing business in the UK, whether through its permanent presence (e.g. thorough its subsidiaries) or otherwise.
16 October 2009 – On the eve of China’s 60th anniversary celebration, additional avenues had been opened for foreign investment in Chinese companies. New opportunities for Chinese investments had been created during a conference organised by CzechInvest and the General Consulate of the Czech Republic. The legal and tax conditions for business in the Czech Republic were presented to Chinese investors by the international law firm Kinstellar.