EY Law Hungary has advised Magyar Takarekszovetkezeti Bank Zrt. on the EUR 12.5 million refinancing of Korda Studios, located in Etyek, Hungary. The borrower was represented by Kinstellar.

“If I would need to bet on what would be the most popular transaction type this year in Hungary, I would say M&A deals,” says Partner Szabolcs Mestyan of Lakatos, Koves and Partners.

A proposal on the modification of the Hungarian Cultural Heritage Act has been submitted to the Hungarian Parliament in October 2017. The purpose of the modification is to restructure the potential participants in the system of the performance of archaeological tasks. 

Currently the provisions of the Act on the General Rules of Administrative Proceedings and Services are applicable as underlying rules in most of the procedural matters in respect of administrative customs.

The traditional methods of tax audits and tax litigation in Hungary will soon be a matter of the past, as three new codes have recently been adopted by Parliament and will come into force on January 1, 2018. Naturally, they are a hot topic in the industry.  

A new decree was issued by the Ministry for National Economy in October 2017, introducing a three-level, standardized approach relating to the transfer pricing documentation (including the master file, the local file, and the country specific report) from 2018.

According to the current wording of the Code of the Civil Procedure, a private document, until proven otherwise, must have full probative force, verifying that the issuer has in fact made the statement that the document contains, or undertakes to consider himself bound by such statement, provided that the rules regarding the form of using witnesses is observed.

Reti, Antall and Partners, the Hungarian member of PwC Legal, has a new Managing Partner and a new Partner.

CHSH has advised CA Immobilien Anlagen AG on the sale of the Infopark Building A office complex in Budapest from the Magyar Posta Takarek Ingatlan Befektetesi Alap real estate fund, owned by Magyar Posta and managed by Diofa Alapkezelo Zrt. CMS advised the sellers on the deal.

Based on the recently modified Hungarian VAT Act, in case of invoices issued in connection with transactions between resident taxpayers, the issuer of the invoice is obliged to report data from the invoice to the tax authority if the output tax is equal or above HUF 100,000. The goal of this obligation is the reduction of tax evasion and the whitening of the economy. 

According to a recent proposal submitted to the Hungarian Parliament, the Hungarian Government intends to launch the electronic procurement system in April 2018.

The entire Budapest office of Weil, Gotshal & Manges, led by Partners David Dederick and Konrad Siegler and including three other senior counsel and 15 lawyers and the entire office staff, will join Bird & Bird in Budapest on February 1. Weil will close its Budapest office.

Dentons has advised the London branch of UniCredit Bank AG and MUFG as coordinators on a EUR 750 million revolving credit facility provided by a group of 13 banks to MOL Plc, the Hungarian multinational oil and gas company. CMS advised MOL on the deal.

DLA Piper has advised Eni regarding the disposal of its shares in Tigaz Group. The buyer, MET Holding, was advised by Kinstellar. 

Dentons has advised Enterprise Investors on the sale by its Polish Enterprise Fund VI of 100% of shares in Netrisk.hu to MCI.EuroVentures of MCI Capital Group. Deloitte Legal reportedly advised the buyers on the transaction, which is valued at EUR 56.5 million. 

According to the bill on the new tax procedural rules entering into force on 1 January 2018, a tax number cannot be suspended by the tax authority any longer. The bill is now before the Hungarian Parliament under discussion. 

Szecskay Attorneys at Law, representing Taltoring Kft, a subsidiary of the Edmond de Rothschild group, has secured a victory before the Hungarian Supreme Court.

Kinstellar has advised Hungarian telecommunications service provider Magyar Telekom Nyrt. and its affiliate T-Systems Magyarorszag Zrt. on the acquisition of ITgen Kft., an SAP technology and security specialist.