JPM Partner Jelena Stankovic Lukic on full harmonization with international standards in this area, the obligations of providers of services, and the supervision on providers.

At one of the last sessions, the Serbian Parliament adopted amendments to the tax laws governing the taxation of companies and natural persons, as well as general tax procedures. The main driver for the reform was the introduction of the taxation regime for digital assets and open-end and alternative investment funds.

Alibaba and Oath Inc., a subsidiary of Verizon operating under the Yahoo! brand, have appointed Karanovic & Partners as their data protection representatives in Serbia.

On January 7th, 2021 the Rulebook on detailed conditions for submitting a request for temporary residence approval electronically entered into force.

When Google announced its $2.1 billion merger deal with the smartwatch and fitness-tracker company Fitbit last year (“Deal”), consumer advocacy and anti-trust regulators have expressed concerns over the proposed acquisition. As a consequence, in August last year the European Commission (“EC”) opened an in-depth investigation to assess whether the said merger is in line with the EU Merger Regulation.

Kinstellar has advised Austria's KA Finanz on the sale of a Greek municipal loan portfolio to Piraeus Bank.

BDK Advokati has advised Frontier Pharma and the Baystone investment group on the acquisition of Zdravlje Leskovac, a Serbian pharmaceutical company owned by Actavis, which is itself a subsidiary of Israel's Teva. Karanovic & Partners advised the sellers on the deal, which is expected to close in March of 2021.

Karanovic & Partners has advised Pollard Banknote on its EUR 36 million acquisition of the Next Generation Lotteries in Serbia. Canada's Torys law firm reportedly also advised the buyer on the deal.

CMS’s Belgrade office has advised Banca Intesa Belgrade on financing provided to Delta Real Estate for the development of the Delta Planet Nis shopping mall in Nis, Serbia.

Contributed by Karanovic & Partners.

An interview with the Belgrade-based Senior Counsel CEE at Philip Morris International

Building a successful in-house legal department involves selecting the right people for the right positions, deciding which lawyers to assign to which tasks, instructing and training them, convincing them to work as a cohesive unit rather than a bunch of individuals, and of course addressing and resolving conflicts and crises – all while fulfilling the critical function of legal advisor to the rest of the company. It’s not easy.

In addition to their traditional role guiding companies through legal and regulatory waters and managing disputes, General Counsels are increasingly called upon to provide input on strategic matters. An expert panel at the second annual Balkan GC Summit considered how this change in the nature of the General Counsel role is manifesting itself in the countries of the former Yugoslavia.