On 23 October 2019, a new directive of the European Parliament and the Council of the EU on the protection of persons who report breaches of Union law (the "Directive") was signed. It requires Member States to adopt laws, among other things, obliging companies to establish reporting channels and to ensure sufficient protection of whistleblowers. The Directive also provides for penalties applicable to both individuals and legal entities. Such national regulations and related whistleblowing measures shall come into force in less than two years. Please find below a brief summary of the legal aspects, the new obligations and the possible penalties in relation to the new whistleblowing Directive.

It has been roughly a year since the somewhat controversial DSM Directive entered into force on June 7, 2019. The clock is ticking as the EU member states are required to transpose the Directive into national law within 24 months—a half of which is already gone. The most discussed provisions of the DSM Directive are included in its Articles 15 and 17.

On June 26, 2020, a significant amendment to the Czech Labor Code, (which we informed you about in our newsletter back in February 2020), was published in the Collection of Laws as the Act No. 285/2020 Coll. Adoption of the amendment was originally planned with an earlier date, but was delayed due to extraordinary circumstances caused by the coronavirus. Nevertheless, apart from this delay, the adoption procedure was smooth and the amendment (particularly as a result of the previous tripartite consensus) did not undergo any significant changes during the legislative procedure.

White & Case has advised Hungary's state-owned energy group MVM on the acquisition of the entire share capital in Innogy Czech Republic from Innogy Beteiligungsholding, a member of the Innogy/E.ON Group. Hengeler Mueller advised E.ON on the deal.

Clifford Chance has advised the Nadace Dagmar a Vaclava Havlovych VIZE 97 foundation on multiple intellectual property protection matters.

Allen & Overy has advised the management of Memsource on the sale of its majority stake to the Carlyle Group. White & Case reportedly advised the Carlyle Group on the deal.

Weinhold Legal has advised Chropynska Strojirna on the acquisition of a 100% stake in HLS Czech.

KSB has advised Sandberg Capital on the acquisition of a 35% stake in Revolgy Business Solutions. Financial details were not disclosed.

KSB has advised Solitea Holding on the internal merger of thirty companies from the Czech Republic and Slovakia into two national companies.

BBH has announced that long-time Partner Jiri Nemec has left the firm "to apply his talents to the business of financial investment."

“The measures taken by the Czech Republic’s government during the pandemic were good and quick, but the discipline people have shown helped with the situation as well,” says Jan Spacil, Managing Partner at Deloitte Legal in Prague. “Various other countries that didn’t work as quickly later had to impose much stricter measures.”

Kinstellar has advised Max Aicher GmbH & Co. KG on the acquisition of the enterprises of the bankrupt Czech companies, Pilsen Steel s.r.o. and Pilsen Estates s.r.o., from insolvency administrator Jaroslav Broz. Tarpan Partners were on the insolvency administrator’s team, while Roedl & Partner served as tax advisors to the Max Aicher group.

Clifford Chance has advised Vseobecna Uverova Banka a.s., the Slovak subsidiary of Intesa Sanpaolo, on the update of its EUR 5 billion covered bond program and another syndicated EUR 500 million issuance via the Luxembourg Stock Exchange. Allen & Overy reportedly advised joint lead managers Banca IMI S.p.A., Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft, Danske Bank A/S, Erste Group Bank AG, and Landesbank Baden-Wuerttemberg.

Former Dentons Counsel Martin Fronek has rejoined White & Case in Prague.

It is with great pleasure that we announce the 2019 CEE Deal of the Year Award winners – the most important, complicated, significant, and valuable deals across Central and Eastern Europe.

Lukas Duffek has been promoted to Salaried Partner at Rowan Legal in the Czech Republic.

CMS has advised Arkance on its acquisition of CAD Studio, a company involved in the digitalization of Manufacturing and Construction industries in the Czech and Slovak Republics and Hungary, from Autocont, a member of the Aricoma Group. Dunovska & Partners advised the sellers on the deal.

Masek, Koci, Aujezdsky has advised sports platform Livesport on the acquisition of film portal Kinobox.cz from entrepreneur Peter Vachler, who will remain on as a consultant. Vyskocil, Kroslak a Partneri advised Vachler on the deal.