Two months ago, in mid-April, the European Parliament approved the first legislation in the European Union on tracking payments in cryptocurrencies, supervision in this area and combating money laundering. The MEPs also adopted common rules for the supervision and protection of consumer rights (MiCA, or Markets in Crypto assets) with safeguards against market manipulation and financial crimes ...
Cryptocurrency, for most of us at least, has been hidden behind a veil of incomprehensible idiom for most of its lifespan. However, it has the potential to revolutionise the way we pay, borrow and lend, maybe sooner rather than later. Like quantum computing and artificial intelligence, we are told they’re set to change the world but few of us understand how that might actually work or what their impact might be ...
In our previous article (Cryptocurrency – The Future of Money), we provided an overview of the key ideas behind cryptocurrency. In this article, we look at how cryptocurrency and digital currency might impact the corporate banking and finance market ...
France has taken steps to set up a dedicated frame for cryptocurrency transactions aiming at conciliating legal certainty, market integrity and innovation. Capitalizing on best market practices, a recent bill defines an optional visa regime for ICOs, while a report commissioned by the French government sets forth principles of minimum regulations. Taxwise, the French Administrative Supreme Court has just ruled in favour of investors in Bitcoins ...
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published a letter to Cryptoasset firms on the 4 July confirming that qualifying cryptoassets will now fall within the scope of the financial promotions regime. From the 8 October 2023, all firms marketing cryptoassets to UK consumers, including firms based overseas, must comply with the financial promotions regime. What is a Financial Promotion? A financial promotion is a broadly defined term, with no technological boundaries ...
Crypto assets are a rapidly evolving and highly innovative sector of the financial industry, offering new opportunities and challenges for businesses, consumers and regulators. Crypto assets are digital representations of value or contractual rights that use cryptography and distributed ledger technology (DLT) to enable peer-to-peer transactions without intermediaries ...
The UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has ruled that the marketing of an NFT of a Johan Cruyff goal was misleading. The one-of-a-kind non-fungible token (NFT), entitled “In a Way, Immortal”, depicts Cruyff’s flying kick for Barcelona against rivals Atlético Madrid which was dubbed “The Phantom Goal” and earned Cruyff the nickname the "flying Dutchman". The NFT was auctioned and eventually sold for a reported €550.000 at Sotheby's ...
After the financial crisis hit the markets in 2008, small and medium sized enterprises ("SME") have found themselves at the sharp end of diminished access to credit. In their search for credit, they have turned to alternative forms of financing, such as crowdfunding. Last year around €300 million was raised through different types of crowdfunding. This amount is expected to increase significantly in 2013 ...
The Crossrail Act 2008 (the “Act”) received Royal Assent on 22 July 2008. The Act authorises the works necessary to build Crossrail and the acquisition of land and interests in land necessary for those works. In addition, the Act establishes a planning and heritage regime for the works ...
Another concise guide: How long does legal residence last in Poland? How to extend it? How to bring family members to Poland? In Ukrainian, Polish and English. The guide has been prepared by Magdalena Switajska and Katarzyna Sawicka from the firm’s Employment and Global Mobility practice. More information: https://wardynski.com ...
The difficulties in international transport caused by the pandemic may have a major impact on VAT settlements of Polish exporters. These complications may carry over to the possibility of applying the 0% VAT rate, thus affecting taxpayers’ cash flows. Restrictions caused by the state of epidemic may affect the possibility for businesses to apply the 0% VAT rate ...
The national competition authorities in South Eastern Europe are evidently increasing and strengthening their cross-border cooperation and communication, allowing for a more effective regional approach in the protection of competition. Taking into account common challenges and economic interdependence, as well as similar goals in EU integration, the authorities appear to have recognized significant merit in a broader regional framework for competition enforcement ...
An encouraging news update comes from Croatia, as some of the recent reports claim that the Croatian IT market reached a value of EUR 950 million in 2015. According to IDC Adriatic – a regional branch of the global market intelligence provider – this shows an increase of 10.8% when compared to the previous year.IDC Adriatic added that a continuation of the IT market's recovery is expected in 2016 as well. More precisely, further strengthening of the market at an average annual rate of 6 ...
On 1 April 2014 amendments to the Contributions Act increasing the general rate for health insurance contributions from 13% to 15% came into force. The new contribution rate will be applied to salaries beginning in April 2014. Receipts related to previous periods will be grandfathered in at the previous applicable rate. Unused vacation for 2013 will be calculated at the 13% contribution rate and the new rate will apply to unused vacation in 2014 ...
The Croatian Competition Agency (the "Agency") initiated proceedings against Grand Auto – an authorised dealer of Land Rover and Jaguar cars for Croatia, after an initiative by the Auto Dealership "Karlo", a former authorised repairer of the said cars for Croatia ...
The new Act on Strategic Investment in Croatia has achieved its goal of reducing administrative procedures and ensuring the speedy realisation of strategic projects in Croatia. In order to declare a project “strategic,” it must meet several criteria. Foremost, the project must be in accordance with spatial planning regulations. Also, the total amount of capital expense must be HRK 150 million (approx. EUR 19.6 million) or more ...
A new Consumer Protection Act is currently in the process of being adopted in Croatia, and has revamped areas of the Act dealing with the sale of products at reduced prices and obligations for public service providers.The new Act imposes traders the obligation to point out two types of prices – regular and reduced. This obligation is related to seasonal reductions in prices, which may be applied up to three times a year and may last no longer than 60 days under the provisions of new Act ...
The Czech Customs Authority announced that Croatia and Turkey will accede to the Convention on a Common Transit Procedure between EU Member States and EFTA countries (the “Convention”) as of 1 July 2012. As a result, the forms listed in the supplements to the Convention are to change. The Czech Customs Authority adds, however, that the currently applicable forms shall continue to be in force and effect at least until 30 June 2013 ...
Internal investigations are a central part of the crisis management response, and whilst the form and structure of the investigation will depend on the type of crisis, investigations will generally focus on identifying root causes and those with responsibility for the crisis ...
With creditors in mind, we have launched anew special-interest service on our website,Creditor Protection, devoted entirely to what creditors can dowhen debtors unlawfully evade payment of their debts or performance of other obligations. The longer you keep someone else’s money, the more you consider it yours, the harder it is to part with it, and the more you hate the person you have to repay it to. Unfortunately, this aphorism perfectly reflects the situation in Poland ...
General questions with respect to the impact of extraordinary measures on contractual relations have been mentionedHERE, in relation to financing contracts there are certain specifics, the basic outline of which is set forth in this note ...
Discussing the legal concept ‘Force Majeure’ in credit agreements – if it can be called upon, it has in principle a temporary nature and does not relief you from payment obligations. In general, force majeure is an unforeseeable and unavoidable event that occurs after a credit agreement has been concluded (i.e ...
Forming a ‘club’ or consortium of PE sponsors can be an enticing prospect, offering a chance to be part of something bigger while sharing the risk and bid price associated with the investment ...
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused mayhem in the world of sport. An earthquake hit when top leagues suspended competitions or cut them short. Then the tensions only kept rising as one major tournament after another was cancelled. The climax was reached when the Tokyo Olympic Games had to be postponed. As aresult, the industry has incurred multi-billion-dollar losses. And it is uncertain when the situation can be expected to improve ...
