In the wake of Russia recently setting new rules for foreign creditors’ debt repayment, dividing foreign creditors in terms of whether or not they are based in a country that’s sanctioned Russia (the “Decree”), creditors having exposure to Russian entities have started reviewing their repayment options. Some of them may feel fortunate holding export credit … Continue Reading
On 9 February 2022, the lower house of the Polish parliament amended the Commercial Companies Code, introducing a parent company’s liability for any damage caused to a holding subsidiary. The amendment has also introduced a binding instruction as to the parent’s handling of the subsidiary’s affairs if the holding’s interest so dictates. The parent must … Continue Reading
In order to counteract the effects of the COVID-19 epidemic and the effects of economic slowdown, the Polish government has announced another PLN 100 billion (EUR 22 billion) support package for Polish business. The main goals of the program are supporting the liquidity of enterprises and maintenance of employment.… Continue Reading
Poland’s government has announced an economic stimulus package it values at PLN 212 billion to assist entrepreneurs and employees during the COVID-19 crisis. The package consists of 5 pillars: employee safety, company financing, health protection, strengthening the financial system and a public investment program.… Continue Reading
The Changing Renewables Support Landscape Over the last couple of years, a combination of subsidy erosion or removal, lower auction prices, reduction in embedded benefits and power market volatility has led to an absence of long-term revenue certainty and forced generators and developers to explore new models for their projects. Simultaneously, corporates are increasingly targeting … Continue Reading
WIBOR (Warsaw Interbank Offered Rate) is one of five critical financial benchmarks in the European Union (Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/482). WIBOR is the interest rate benchmark for the vast majority of złoty-denominated commercial loans, more than 98% of Polish mortgage loans, 26% of the total nominal value of Polish bonds, and € 366 billion … Continue Reading
Poland and the US signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on strategic civil nuclear cooperation on June 12. The MoU emphasizes the desire to establish a deeper bilateral strategic relationship aiming at energy security and meeting Poland’s clean energy needs. These aims are to be achieved by: Collaboration for developing Polish infrastructure for the responsible … Continue Reading
Things are gaining momentum. In our post of June 7, 2019, we wrote about the major changes to the draft Renewable Energy Sources Act (RES) posted on the government website on June 5. Not long thereafter, a new supplemented version 6 appeared. We believe one new development is worth our attention. By Way of Introduction, … Continue Reading
Under Pressure On 5 June, the draft amendments to the Renewable Energy Sources Act (RES Act) were posted on the Governmental Legislation Center website. It is no secret that Poland will not meet the RES energy production level targets imposed by EU Directives, regardless of the means undertaken. Despite this, one positive is that the … Continue Reading
As the political turmoil regarding Brexit continues to grow in the UK, the spectre of a “no-deal” Brexit becomes a very realistic scenario. The shortness of time left to make the final decision is forcing businesses in the UK and EU to view the short-term future with unease and anxiety, particularly the uncertainty surrounding the … Continue Reading
In the announcement of 29 January 2019, KNF-Polish Financial Supervision Authority confirmed that, in the case of no-deal Brexit, UK entities operating on the Polish financial market will be treated as third-country entities. In the wake of the recent British Parliament vote rejecting the UK’s EU withdrawal agreement, the eventuality of a no-deal Brexit has … Continue Reading
On November 23 this year, the Ministry of Energy published its draft Polish Energy Policy until 2040 (PEP2040). This long-awaited document is significant for both the energy sector and the entire economy; however, it is subject to social consultations until January 15, 2019, and its assumptions may (but do not have to) evolve. A Generational Structural … Continue Reading
The Polish Parliament has recently adopted a new law implementing certain changes to the Polish financial system (“the Act”).[1] The aim is to strengthen supervision over capital markets and improve protection of investors, but it will significantly impact the timing and cost of raising capital through debt securities offered outside the public market. The new … Continue Reading
Large-scale public-private partnership (PPP) projects are not common in Poland. However, the amendment to the PPP law, which came into effect in September 2018, should change this. Therefore, we welcome the fact that, recently, the Port of Gdańsk announced a tender for a PPP advisor for the Central Sea Port Project. Thus, the “anchors are … Continue Reading
On July 1, 2018 the so-called split payment mechanism was introduced into the Polish legal system. Split payment refers to the splitting of invoice payments in B2B relations between a supplier’s current bank account and a VAT account, which is automatically opened by banks as an account directly linked to current accounts. Funds constituting the … Continue Reading
If there is a holy book for finance lawyers, at least on this side of the Atlantic Ocean, it would be the Loan Market Association (LMA) standard form. Aimed to improve liquidity and efficiency in the syndicated loan markets in EMEA, the recommended standard forms developed by the LMA are here to stay. Although intended … Continue Reading
On 13 January 2018, a new regulation for the provision of payment services will come into force in the Czech Republic, introducing the most significant changes to the Czech banking market in recent years. Newly Regulated Payment Services This new regulation (Act No. 370/2017 Coll.) has been adopted in the Czech Republic based on EU … Continue Reading
The Polish Financial Supervision Authority (KNF) recently published (on 12 January 2018) a long-awaited statement relating to the “selected regulator’s expectations” as regards the interim period(s) relating to the implementation of the Payment Services Directive 2 (PSD2) in Poland. The statement is key for banks and FinTech companies (TPPs) to understand how to operate until the … Continue Reading
At the end of August 2017, legislative work has started to set out principles of checking clean criminal records of applicants for employment in the entities of the financial sector. A list of entities that will benefit from the law covers, inter alia, banks, international financial institutions, insurers, the Polish Export Credit Agency (KUKE), insurance … Continue Reading
Recently, the Ministry of Justice of the Slovak Republic (the “Ministry”) published a draft of amendment to the Slovak Commercial Code (the “Draft Amendment”) for public consultation. The Draft Amendment contains numerous substantial changes which we will discuss in series of separate blog posts. This post will look at the provisions relating to capital funds … Continue Reading
With effect from 1 March 2017, Czech Act No. 284/2009 Coll. on Payment System (the Act) has been amended in accordance with the Directive No. 2014/92/EU on the comparability of fees related to payment accounts, payment account switching and access to payment accounts with basic features (the Directive). One of the purposes of the Directive … Continue Reading
An amendment of the Czech Insolvency Act was published in the Collection of Laws on 3 March 2017 and becomes effective on 1 July 2017. It brings important changes for personal bankruptcies, as well as regulation of corporate insolvencies. Two issues that might be of interest to corporations, regulation of forum shopping and prohibition of … Continue Reading
If you are or will be doing business with Slovak state, local government, municipality or a legal entity financed or controlled by the state, or you are receiving EU funds, as of February 1, you must be registered in the new Register of Public Sector Partners (the “Register”) and disclose your ultimate beneficial owners (UBO). … Continue Reading
In this Article, I will share with you some legal insights regarding investment in the Czech Republic and summarize important points characterizing legal environment here in 2017. If you are thinking about investing in the Czech Republic you will need to consider a wide range of factors from technical to tax. It is likely that … Continue Reading
