Looking ahead to 2023, white-collar crime is likely to be a subject of close scrutiny by local and EU authorities across CEE. CMS CEE Partner Nedeljko Velisavljevic, from Serbia, and CMS Head of the Criminal Defense Practice in Romania Mihai Jiganie-Serban explore the current context, latest developments, and outlook of white-collar crime practices in CEE.

On 4 May 2023 the Bulgarian Act on the protection of persons who report or make public information on breaches ("Whistleblower Protection Act" or "WPA")1 adopted earlier this year enters into force, giving effect to the provisions of Directive (EU) 2019/19372 and imposing a number of obligations on employers in both the public and private sector.

What does the new whistleblowing system entail?

In line with Directive (EU) 2019/1937 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the protection of persons who report breaches of Union law, the Hungarian Parliament adopted a new law on complaints, whistleblowing and rules for reporting breaches, which replaces previous legislation. Below we have summarized the key points of the new rules. This information has been prepared for private sector actors.

Advancing renewable energy initiatives, establishing remote companies, and adopting criminal justice reform are currently the key priorities on the legal agenda in Greece, according to Politis & Partners Partner Nikolaos Anastopoulos.

A new promotion round saw 62 lawyers become Partners at CMS – spanning 25 cities across the UK, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America – including Arno Zimmermann, Hans Lederer, and Klaus Pateter in Vienna, Alicja Zalewska-Orabona in Warsaw, and Mihai Jiganie-Serban in Bucharest.

EU Directive 2019/1937 on the protection of persons who report infringements of EU law was adopted in 2019 and should have been transposed into national law by the Member States until 17 December 2021. The Directive obliges the Member States to set up a three-step notification system.