In the new economic reality, businesses that took out loans may be asking themselves many questions. Will existing loans still be paid out? Will an expiring credit line be extended? And will the state of epidemic justify not repaying debt already incurred? COVID-19 and the related restrictions introduced overnight by country after country have shifted businesses into anew reality. Among the challenges is ensuring the continuity of bank financing and the capacity to repay existing debt ...
Even against the backdrop of the current COVID-19 pandemic (“corona”), cities, municipalities, and municipal associations need to continue to be efficient and, above all, capable of making decisions. This article provides an overview of the problems they are facing and offers some possible solutions. Problem Numerous scheduled meetings have been canceled and remain suspended until further notice ...
Introduction COVID-19 poses great challenges, especially for cross-border M&A transactions and capital market deals. In the last five years or so, the M&A sector has seen a strong seller's market in which sellers have been able to generate high selling prices and enforce contractual arrangements in their favour. This will likely change rapidly now ...
M&A deals are one of the tools for pursuing business. For some they are amethod for expanding their scale of operations or generating synergies, and for others allow them to exit investments or raise capital. Thus the turbulence now felt by businesses is impacting their activity in the M&A market. While refraining from evaluating the economic impacts of the current situation, we focus on analysing selected legal aspects ...
With public markets collapsing and economists predicting a Eurozone recession, the European M&A market must also be expected to be heavily impacted by the coronavirus. “There will be transactions pulled if there hasn’t been already,” said a partner at one London-based private equity firm. “There is too much uncertainty and sellers will need to adjust to the new environment. It will take some time for the new reality to be reflected in pricing ...
Part 2 of this series is about data protection. In case of questions, please contact Zoltán Balázs Kovács. How do you secure data in the home office environment? What policies should be in place to secure data and devices? What does a data breach mean? Employers must comply with the principle of accountability and demonstrate compliance (including by way of applying proper internal policies). This is important also from the perspective of data security ...
Part 1 of this series discusses labour law and labour safety issues. What is it that has changed regarding home office and teleworking because of Covid-19? What can we expect in the future? How can employers prepare for the “new normal” and how can employees manage things from their side? Before Covid-19, teleworking and working from home in Hungary represented a percentage of 1.2 among employees aged between 15-64, according to Eurostat ...
It will be news to few that the construction industry is experiencing a serious shortage of key materials. The Construction Leadership Council first warned of shortages (in timber, steel, pitched roofing, plastics, paints/coatings, some electronic components and cement – among other materials) early this year, and has reiterated its concerns since ...
One issue which many employers are currently grappling with is whether to make vaccination against COVID-19 compulsory for employees returning to the workplace. In a 2-part article we consider this issue in the context of care homes and other workplaces. Care home employers In Part 1 of this article, we look at the situation for care home employers ...
On 6 April 2020, the Government approved a bill on certain measures to mitigate the impact of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus epidemic on the tourism sector. On 8 April 2020, the bill will be discussed by the Chamber of Deputies Committee for Public Administration and Regional Development and subsequently by the Chamber of Deputies. The Act applies to package tours starting on 20 February 2020 through to 31 August 2020 ...
Companies and taxpayers alike are experiencing massive liquidity shortages due to the far-reaching restrictions on the economy and on public life caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, or at least will be exposed to such a risk in the medium term. This forces them to examine, also in relation to taxes, how existing liquidity may be preserved or additional liquidity created. In addition, the question is how to deal with ongoing tax audits and what other procedural relief is available ...
This memorandum is intended to provide information on measures undertaken by the Icelandic government in response to disruption of businesses on account of the SARSCoV2 virus. The memo will be updated as the occasion arises. Status as on Tuesday 31 March 2020 On 31 March 2020, the Icelandic Parliament (Althingi) passed amendments to various laws in order to implement the government´s announced measures in response to COVID-19 ...
In light of the difficulties associated with the coronavirus epidemic, and joining the global trend under the hashtag #flattenthecurve, competition authorities around the world, including Poland, are introducing, more or less officially, extraordinary operating procedures to avoid spreading the coronavirus. This can have amajor impact on proceedings before these authorities, including filing and consideration of applications seeking approval of concentrations ...
The global spread of COVID-19 coronavirus infection has led to significant changes in social, political and economic processes in Russia and around the world. Government authorities are responding and introducing measures to combat the spread of coronavirus infection to ensure sustainable economic development and support to citizens in the face of the pandemic ...
As a result of the pandemic, many planned and existing contracts have been paralysed. The uncertain situation forces the parties to cease performing contracts or at least poses barriers to performance. In this situation, can they change the contract? Will they have to pay contractual penalties and damages? The Anti-Crisis Act comes to their aid ...
Introduction On 27 August 2020 the European Commission, on behalf of EU member states, entered into an advance purchase agreement (APA) with AstraZeneca for the production, purchase and supply of the Anglo-Swedish company's COVID-19 vaccine in the European Union.(1) The APA provides for: AstraZeneca's supply of 300 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine (the initial Europe doses); and an option for the European Union to order an additional 100 million doses (the optional doses) ...
Due to the developments regarding the outbreak of COVID-19 and the declaration of a state of emergency in Serbia, the National Bank of Serbia (“NBS”) undertook emergency measures to facilitate the position of citizens and businesses in servicing debts ...
Due to introduction of restrictive measures in the territory of Ukraine during the quarantine period, the National Bank of Ukraine (hereinafter the "NBU"), by its Resolution No. 39 dated 26 March 2020 (the "Resolution"), introduced special rules for application by the banks of Ukraine of the requirements of the Regulation on determination by banks of Ukraine of the credit risk on active banking operations, approved by the Resolution of the Board of the NBU No. 351 of 30 June 2016 ...
The M&A market has entered a volatile period, but there are several strategies that you as a seller or buyer can use to navigate your deal through to completion. These strategies may be particularly relevant for buyers who have secured financing or large cash reserves. We also expect that it will generally be a buyer’s market for some time to come. Read this article as a PDF here. Purchase price mechanism ...
On 28 April 2020 a government bill including the proposed “Anti-Crisis Shield 3.0” was filed with the parliament. One of the proposals is to amend the Film Act to require providers of on-demand audiovisual media services to make quarterly payments to the Polish Film Institute equal to 1.5% of their revenue from fees for delivering content or for transmission of commercial messages, whichever figure is higher in agiven payment period ...
As part of a package of economic measures worth EUR 5.1 billion, the Serbian Government adopted a decree on 16 April 2020 establishing a guarantee scheme for loans to be provided by local banks to businesses to reduce the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic (the “COVID-19 Guarantee Scheme”) ...
Below is an update on the most relevant employment law measures adopted after the Decree of March 22, 2021, no. 41 (the so-called “Sostegni Decree”) within the framework of the COVID-19 emergency legislation and the on-going vaccination campaign ...
“We continue to work closely with Member States to ensure that European businesses have access to urgently needed liquidity”, said the vice-president of the European Commission (“Commission”) Margrethe Vestager in connection with the amendment to the Temporary Framework on State aid adopted on 8 May 2020 ...
Due to the Corona pandemic and the associated economic effects, numerous companies were forced to announce short-time work over the past few months. This raises the question for employers to what extent it is still possible to hire during short-time work and what effects this has on short-time working compensation. NEW HIRES DURING SHORT-TIME WORK First of all, a distinction must be made between new hires before and after the introduction of short-time work ...
