Recent news reports are claiming that Mercator is expected to sell its chains of sporting goods stores, Intersport and Modiana, by the end of July. This kind of activity would be the latest in a longer line of investments that Mercator has been selling off, including Pekarna Grosuplje and Mercator-Embi, all of it as means of shifting the corporate focus to the company's main activity – trade ...
The Supreme Court of Canada issued its reasons today in Krayzel Corp. v. Equitable Trust Co., 2016 SCC 18, adding some clarification to a mortgage lender’s right to protect itself from the increased commercial risk associated with a defaulting mortgagor through the use of interest rates, given s. 8 of the Interest Act which reads as follows: "No fine, etc ...
There is a growing trend of initial public offerings of debt in Israel by U.S. (and Canadian) real estate companies with income-producing real estate and the listing of the bonds for trading on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. During 2014 and 2015, approximately 15 such real estate companies completed public debt offerings in Israel, the large majority of which were initial public offerings, raising approximately NIS 8 billion in total (equivalent to approximately US$2 billion) during such period ...
There has been an exciting development in the entertainment industry, as the Czech company"Sebre a.s."bought a 20% stake in Serbian "Avala film" – an iconic studio hailing from the golden age of Yugoslavian film ...
Recent news reports show that IKEA, the world famous Swedish multinational retailer, is getting ready to invest EUR 88 million in the construction of a Designer Outlet complex in Croatia. The company, whose Croatian division opened on the outskirts of Zagreb in August 2014 and has since been welcoming over 1.5 million customers on an annual basis, has decided to embark on such an endeavour in order to tap into a yet unseen mix of outlet retail and leisure entertainment in the region ...
Growth of the real estate industry in Panama in recent years is noticeable, not just locally but at a regional level as well. Iconic architectural works such as the Trump Tower, F&F Tower (popularly called the “Screw”) among others, attracts positive criticism from different actors in the business and associations in the construction, development and promotion of the real estate business. In part, real estate growth in Panama is due to the ease in the execution of real estate transactions ...
Karanović & Nikolić Senior Associate, Ana Luković, visited the recently held 8thInternational Bar Association's (IBA) Real Estate Conference in Copenhagen. As was the case during the previous editions of the conference, it provided a platform for around 150 attendees – hailing from all across the contemporary business spectrum – to communicate and exchange their views on various topics related to the field of real estate law ...
The regulation governing contracts of public bodiesleaps into the digital age. The amendments, passed on April 13, 2016, and coming into force June 1, 2016, aim to clarify the rules pertaining to the results evaluation.1Five key changesTenders in electronic form are mandatory if so required in the tender documents ?> change of computer systems will be needed to ensure the integrity of the signatures and tenders ...
A lifelong right to live in a house owned by someone else is referred to as a right to habitation. Once this right is registered in the Deeds Office, it is enforceable against everyone, including the registered owner of the immovable property (“property”).This position was confirmed in the recent Supreme Court of Appeal case of Hendriks v Hendriks and Others (case no ...
With the advent of the Construction Regulations, 2014 (the “regulations”), which are binding in terms of the Occupational Health and Safety Act, 1993 (“OHASA”), additional duties are now placed on the “client” that did not exist under the previous regulatory regime. For example, the client now assumes the duty to prepare a baseline risk assessment for a construction work project and, depending on the factual circumstances, to apply for a construction work permit ...
The May 2016 issue of the International Financial Law Review (IFLR) included an international briefing article entitled “PPPs and the election ban.” The article was contributed by SyCipLaw partner Aaron Roi B. Riturban.Read the article online at the IFLR website ...
Macedonia, a country of great natural beauty – and perhaps most famous for its lakes – is reported to be working hard towards further enhancing and widening its tourist offer. The latest activity on behalf of the government in this regard has been a EUR 15 million investment in the road and utility infrastructure related to Lake Prespa ...
It has been reported recently that EPS Distribucija has successfully obtained a building permit from the Ministry of Construction Transportation and Infrastructure for the EUR 1.13 billion project of constructing a new electrical substation – along with accompanying office space – near Autokomanda in Belgrade ...
The use of a nominee corporationThe Act Respecting Duties on Transfers of Immovables (the ?Act?) imposes transfer duties (also known as the ?welcome tax?) on the transfer of immovables in Quebec.Since transfer duties are only payable from the time the transfer is registered in the land register (section 6 of the Act), some property structures make it possible, in practice, to avoid paying them ...
Even though the arrival of the German company "Lidl" in Serbia has been in the media since 2012, the construction of its first store in Smederevo was completed only in late 2015. However, further construction has recently begun on an additional four locations, namely, Belgrade, Bor, Zrenjanin, and Šabac ...
As the summer season draws closer, a stream of news continues to come our way from the Adriatic coast of our region. Montenegro is the source of updates this time around, as there have been reports about the Stratex Group taking full control over Budvanska Rivijera Hotel Group – a company in which they already hold a 30% ownership stake. The deal would include all of Budvanska Rivijera's assets excluding the St ...
After a number of previously made announcements regarding the starting date of construction for the first IKEA store in Serbia, a seemingly final one was made last week by the Ikea's Director of Regional Development, Vladislav Lalić, as he stated that the construction is set to begin this month at the Bubanj Potok location, just outside Belgrade. The completion of this project would then be expected in 2017, with the store set to open in late spring/beginning of summer ...
Over the past two years, various media outlets have been reporting on increased investor interest for the Serbian real estate market, with a particular focus on Belgrade. Goran Vesić, the city manager, recently substantiated these reports by claiming that Belgrade's Public Land Development Agency made a total of 772 business deals with investors over the course of last year alone ...
Termination of electricity supply due to non-payment of an electricity account A landlord may not, without a court order, terminate the supply of electricity to premises leased to a tenant who is in arrears with monthly electricity payments. This is according to the recent High Court judgment in the matter of Anva Properties CC vs End Street Enterprises CC (22109/2014, 14 April 2015) ...
The confusing definition of “instalment sale agreements” in the Act In terms of the National Credit Act (“the Act”), an instalment agreement is defined as a sale of movable property. From the definition, it would seem that instalment sale agreements over immovable property are excluded from the Act; however, this is not the case ...
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) of the United States Department of the Treasury issued a “Geographic Targeting Order” on January 13, 2016, aimed at curbing money laundering in the real estate sector. The targeting order is an expression of the Treasury’s power under 31 U.S.C. § 5326 of the Bank Secrecy Act and will affect all-cash purchases of real estate valued at $3 million or more in Manhattan and $1 million or more in Miami-Dade County ...
In February 2015, the report on the public enquiry of the fire commissioner concerning the fire that occurred on January 23, 2014, at the Résidence du Havre at L’Isle-Verte, which resulted in the death of thirty-two residents, was tabled1 ...
WWII deeply modified the Canadian economy1. The concentration of resources toward the war effort brought about, among other things, a shortage of rental premises2. Hence, the law governing leases was adapted3. and the existing liberal vision of free negotiation of contracts and consent made way for a stricter one ...
Although the Czech real estate market has recently witnessed several significant deals (see Attractive Real Estate Business in the Czech Republic), there is definitely still great potential in the Czech Republic for future investors. Correspondingly, according to the latest figures, it seems that even a forecast of a 6% price increase will be surpassed in 2015 ...
On 28 July 2015 the newly enacted “Law on Conversion” (the “Law”) which sets out the procedure for converting the right of use into ownership rights over construction land for a fee (the “Conversion”), will come in force. The Law outlines the rules for the Conversion procedure and specifies the particular list of entities that are eligible to file for the Conversion ...
