On December 27, 2019, several amendments made to the Hungarian capital markets act by the Hungarian Parliament to adhere to the relevant rules of the European Union be-came effective, also making it easier for Hungarian companies to issue bonds under the Bond Funding for Growth Scheme (BGS) by introducing more lenient information and publication rules for issuances.

In the few months since Hungary’s Private Foundation Act came into force on March 29, 2019, it has already significantly grown in terms of financial importance.

Dentons Partner Anita Horvath has been appointed Co-Head of the firm’s Corporate and M&A Practice in Hungary, where she will work alongside Partner Rob Irving.

On September 20 2019, CEE Legal Matters reported that BLS had advised Pannonia Bio Zrt. – a company operating a biorefinery in Tolna County, Hungary, that is the largest ethanol plant in Europe – and that CMS Hungary had advised OTP Bank Plc. on Pannonia Bio’s issuance of the first Hungarian forint bond in line with the Central Bank of Hungary’s Bond Funding for Growth Scheme.

The Banking sector in Hungary has been doing well in recent years. Schoenherr Budapest Local Partner Gergely Szaloki walks us through that progress.

The Hungarian financial market finished 2019 in a strong position. Intrigued by what many have described as a “special” year, CEE Legal Matters sat down with several of the nation’s leading Banking/Finance lawyers at Lakatos, Koves & Partners’ offices in Budapest to learn more.

Sounds frightening, huh? When I first encountered this expression a couple of years ago, I thought it was one of those buzzwords that had been created by accountants or other financial wizards to tackle invasively curious tax administration people. “Bottomline” also sounded familiar: that is the very last figure in your financial statements; the one that interests you the most.

D'Ornano Partners has advised the Hungarian subsidiary of the Ruget group on the transfer of assets and the sale of real estate to the Hungarian Ferzol Group. RSM Legal Szucs & Partners advised Ferzol on the deal.

The COVID-19 outbreak has become a new type of challenge for the entire world. The conditions of everyday life and day-to-day business operations have fundamentally changed as countries have gone under lockdown, economies have been shut almost entirely down and global supply chains torn to pieces.

“To be honest, I think the government handled the crisis as well as possible," says Levente Csengery, Partner at KCG Partners. “The COVID-19 regulations do exactly what they’re supposed to – protect public health and keep us all alive, and they’re working.“ At the time of writing, Hungary has had 3535 confirmed cases (and 460 deaths) from the new coronavirus. 

Just a few days after the entry into force of the special tax on retailers (effective as of 1 May 2020), which may amount to as much as 2.5% of their annual turnover, the Hungarian Government further tightened the rules on the distribution of food products by significantly restricting  traders' freedom to negotiate purchase prices.

The Hungarian Competition Authority (HCA) has imposed a record fine on Booking.com for committing unfair commercial practices by misleadingly advertising certain hotel rooms with "free cancellation", as well as for pressure selling. The authority has also banned the company from applying these practices as of 2021.

On 4 May 2020 the European Data Protection Board (‘EDPB’) issued important Guidelines on the practice of websites using so-called “cookie walls”.

The coronavirus epidemic has shown that implementing appropriate occupational safety and health measures and providing adequate conditions are essential in all sectors regardless of the activity. After the coronavirus outbreak, the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) had published a guidance for the workplace. Now, a couple of month later, at the end of April 2020, the EU-OSHA issued guidance on coming back to work. The goal of these non-binding guidelines is to help employers and workers to stay safe and healthy in a working environment that has been changed significantly by the COVID-19 pandemic.

At the end of April 2020, the Hungarian Government submitted to the Parliament a bill on the termination of the undivided joint ownership on agricultural lands and the clarification of the data of the rightholders of properties deemed agricultural land in the land registry, aiming at the establishment of a clear and transparent land ownership structure.

Balazs Sahin-Toth, Counsel in the Budapest office of Allen & Overy, working pro bono in conjunction with Peter Gardos from Hungary's Gardos Mosonyi Tomori Law Firm and Hungarian solo practitioners Adel Kegye and Eleonora Hernadi, has persuaded the Hungarian Supreme Court to uphold the lower court's decision that the Hungarian segregation of Roma students between 2003 and 2017 provided a lower level of education.

On 10 April 2020, the Government issued Decree No. 102/2020. (IV. 10) and introduced new temporary corporate law measures with the aim of facilitating the decision-making process of the companies in compliance with the restrictions on movement introduced due to the spread of the epidemic.

Subsequent to the previous reduction of the social contribution tax effective from 1 July 2019 (17.5%), which is the main labour-related tax burden of employers, the Hungarian legislation further decreases the social contribution tax as of 1 July 2020.