11 June 2021 saw the published form of disclosing the legal entity’s ownership structure approved by Order 163 of the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine dated 19.03.2021 (hereinafter – the Order) pursuant to Law of Ukraine No. 361-ІХ “On Prevention and Counteraction to Legalization (Laundering) of Proceeds of Crime or Financing of Terrorism and Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction” dated 06.12.2019. New requirements to the disclosure of the legal entity's ownership structure will apply from 11 July 2021. All legal entities incorporated in Ukraine must submit their ownership structures to the state registrar till 11 October 2021 in compliance with new requirements.

Intellectual property is usually perceived through three main rights: copyright, patent and trademarks. Sensitive market-relevant information is usually perceived just as a benefit, but rarely as a right. Protection of trade secrets certainly deserves more attention. To make it easier to all market players to easily comprehend this right and for authorities to apply it, Serbia adopted a new Law on Protection of Trade Secrets, which came into force on 5 June 2020 (the “New Law”). The main reason for the new regulation, as proclaimed by the lawmakers, is the alignment with the EU acquis (especially, the Directive (EU) 2016/943 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 8 June 2016).

Hungary announced to cut the tax on cryptocurrency earnings by 50% to encourage investors to declare income from trading digital tokens such as Bitcoin. The Hungarian Parliament accepted the tax package for 2022 on 9 June 2021. The package contains inter alia significant simplification and tax reduction with regards cryptocurrencies.

The government announced a substantial change in bearer shares at the end of 2020, but the details were only finalised in April 2021. According to the new amendment, non-public joint stock companies are now obliged to register shareholders holding bearer shares.

The matter on labour assignment has recently become topical in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH), due to the increased need of business entities to hire staff who are not on their payrolls.

The Covid-19 pandemic has forced us to adapt to many new things, among them a shift to remote work. Unsurprisingly, remote work or, as Forbes has described it, “a gift born in tragedy”, has proved to be not only possible and efficient, but also attractive, especially for certain industries. In two simple words, remote work has easily become a freelance accelerator. And we believe it is here to stay.

Crowdfunding is a type of intermediation where the service provider operates a platform (e.g. website) open to the public. The purpose of that platform is to match enterprises seeking financing with prospective investors. The enterprises typically receive small amounts of money from many investors (usually natural persons), via lending (lending-based crowdfunding) or investment into shares (investment-based crowdfunding). Some of the best-known crowdfunding platforms are Kickstarter or Indiegogo. By introducing a single European regulatory framework, the uncertain Hungarian legal environment might change, potentially giving a boost to the crowdfunding market.

During the last few months number of laws and regulations have been passed in Latvia which have an impact on construction processes, investment in the Latvian real estate and project development.

A recent case brought before a court in Amsterdam has given us the opportunity to call into question the right of access to personal data regulated by art. 15 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and in particular certain aspects related to the difficulties that may be caused to a data controller, in certain situations, by the data subjects’ exercising this right.

The global pandemic has impacted all markets, with subsequent ramifications for M&A. Investors are now seeking greater protection against general lock-downs and supply-chain disruptions, while governments aim to protect critical supplies and services by imposing new regulations on foreign investment in crucial or strategic industries. If you are considering investment opportunities in Hungary, take a look at this overview to get insight into the regulations on foreign investment in strategic industries.

A law implementing, among others, Directive (EU) 2019/878 amending Directive (EU) 2013/36 (Capital Requirements Directive - CRD V) has been passed by the Austrian Parliament and Federal Council, and has been published in the Federal Gazette. CRD V (as part of the package together with Regulation (EU) 2019/876 amending Regulation (EU) 575/2013 – CRR II) aims to close regulatory gaps in the existing financial regulatory framework and, while adding prudential measures as to capital requirements, requires certain entities to comply with new licensing obligations.

Recently, Law no. 146/2021 regarding electronic surveillance within judicial and executional criminal proceedings (“Law no. 146/2021”) was published in the Official Gazette of Romania, for the first time regulating the use of electronic monitoring devices in Romania.

The digitalisation of the construction process in Poland has begun. By the end of 2022, it should be possible to access all construction-related administrative services via a single portal called e-budownictwo (e-construction).

Hungary was one of the last EU countries to introduce a register of ultimate beneficial owners. While the provisions of the Fourth and Fifth AML Directives were already implemented in the Hungarian AML Act, the technical conditions on the actual operation of the UBO register were only adopted by Act XLIII of 2021 ("UBO Register Act") and are in force as of 22 May 2021.

The rapid development of modern information and communication technologies – a sine qua non condition for the edification of the Information Society - has had a major impact on the social environment, marking true mutations in the operating philosophy of economics, politics, and culture, but also in the daily life of the individual. In fact, at present, the easy access to technology information and communication is one of the conditions for the proper functioning of modern society.

In April 2021, the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia passed a set of new laws in the field of mining and energy, including the new Law on Energy Efficiency and Rational Use of Energy (hereinafter “the Law”), which entered into force on April 30, 2021.

Since the introduction of the institution of legal entities’ exemption from criminal liability in 2016, there has been discussion on the distribution of the burden of proof in proving the conditions for its application in criminal proceedings. Meanwhile, the prosecution’s view has been gradually changing.

The fee for 2021 is determined by the decision of competent authority on basis of applications of payers that are obliged to submit them no later than 31 July 2021.