CEE Legal Matters
In-depth coverage of the news and newsmakers that shape Europe's emerging markets
The COVID-19 pandemic constitutes an unprecedented challenge that continued to escalate worldwide, including in Romania. Among the severe consequences affecting people’s health, the pandemic had a negative impact on the businesses across all sectors as well.
In the context of the significant inflation of laws and administrative regulations in Romania, many of them representing or deriving from European Union (“EU”) normative acts, one important risk to be considered by foreign investors should be that the legislation process that regulates the permitting process is constantly modified. Moreover, most administrative permits, such as, for example, environmental permits or operating licences, are valid only for a limited period. Thus, the necessity to renew the permits and licences after important investments have already been made by the investors may represent a real challenge.
Nowadays, in the Romanian judicial practice the proceedings in which, apart from the criminal prosecution of natural persons for the perpetration of criminal offences, criminal liability of legal persons (various companies, smaller or larger, producers of goods, service providers or operators, etc.) is also pursued, have got to become more and more often.
At the European Community level there have been numerous regulations related to asset freezing and confiscation, the most recent being Directive 2014/42/EU of the European Parliament and of The Council on the freezing and confiscation of instrumentalities and proceeds of crime in the European Union (the “Directive”).
The implementation of the EU’s fourth money laundering directive (2015/849/EU, or MLD4) is a subject of significant interest in Romania, as the process of adopting a new Money Laundering Bill (MLB) in line with the provisions of the MLD4 to replace the current Money Laundering Act is in full progress.
In February of this year CEE Legal Matters reported that Partner Octavian Popescu had left Musat & Asociatii to set up his own firm: Popescu & Asociatii. CEELM sat down with Popescu to learn more about his new firm and his plans for the future.
Former Musat & Asociatii Partner Octavian Popescu has left the firm to set up his own: Popescu & Asociatii.
Popescu & Asociatii is a top Romanian business law firm founded to provide premium integrated services to premium businesses, both in Romania and abroad, in all the relevant areas of practice, and especially in all industries of interest for active economic players.
Established as a full-service law firm, Popescu & Asociatii genuinely combines the expertise and exposure in the consultancy field with high level of strategic capabilities and experience in trials and court rooms, to provide state-of-art advice and representation both in local and cross border deals and files. The firm acts for corporation, local companies, banks and financial corporations, as well as for investment funds and entrepreneurs in all the areas of law: Banking and Finance, Capital Markets, Corporate and Commercial/Mergers and Acquisitions, Competition and Antitrust, Dispute Resolution, Employment, Compensations and Benefits, Energy and Natural Resources, Environment, Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals, Intellectual Property and GDPR, IT, Telecom & Media, Infrastructure, PPP and Public Procurement, Prevention, Compliance and White-Collar Crime, Real Estate and Construction, Restructuring and Insolvency, Transport Law.
Our mission is to deliver strategic, excellent and innovative legal and business solutions. Excellence, collaboration, and innovation are at the core of the way we work, with each other and with our clients. We focus on building long-term relationships and we do this by staying true to our founding principles: to provide client service and the highest standards, always keeping in mind work ethics, integrity and the responsibility towards our clients businesses, deals and cases that they entrusting us.
Popescu & Asociatii is ranked and recognized among outstanding law firms in Romania by IFLR 1000 Financial and Corporate and Benchmark Litigation Europe Edition. In addition, the firm received Best Litigation Law Firm in Romania award and has been recognized as one of the best White-Collar Crime Romanian law firms, based on our outstanding experience and market recognition in Romania, at the Romanian Legal Annual Awards Gala 2019.
More information about Popescu & Asociatii can be found here.