News

KŠB is one of the five law firms nominated for the prestigious Law Firm of the Year in Central Europe award given by renowned British legal magazine “The Lawyer”.

The BMM Group, which manages Zdeněk and Michaela Bakalas’s Czech assets, agreed with the other shareholders at the end of the year to sell a majority stake in AWT to PKP Cargo, the largest Polish railway cargo carrier. The deal is expected to be completed in the first half of 2015 following regulator approval. KŠB advised the seller.

Kocián Šolc Balaštík (KŠB) has announced the appointment of four new counsels effective 1 January 2015. The promotion of three attorneys and one tax advisor, all of whom have worked for KŠB for several years, is an acknowledgement of the outstanding work they have done and continue to do for KŠB.

In cooperation with KŠB, law student association ELSA held its 3rd annual Contract Competition for law school students. Shareholder agreements were the topic of this year’s contest.

Peers describe KŠB partner Martin Šolc as the most respected lawyer in the Czech Republic in an opinion poll held by Motejlek.com.

KŠB Managing Partner Dagmar Dubecká ranked 24th in this year’s TOP 25 Women of Czech Business poll, which was held for the tenth time by publishing house Economia.

KŠB managing partner Dagmar Dubecká took part in the “Women Welcome on Board” conference held by publishing house Economia and the Business for Community association. In one of four panel discussions, Dagmar, together with other ladies ranked in the TOP 25 Women in Czech Business, discussed gender diversity in top management.

As of 1 December 2015, KŠB’s Karlovy Vary branch is in a new location: Závodní 391/96C, 36006 Karlovy Vary

On 7 November 2014 at the Prague Marriott Hotel, a formal discussion was held on energy security in the Czech Republic. During the panel discussion, KŠB energy law specialist Tomáš Sequens looked at the stability of Czech energy regulations and the expectations of energy market players.

Ekonom Weekly (its special “Stories of Success”) and Lidové noviny daily featured interviews with and a profile of KŠB partner Martin Šolc and KŠB counsel Jan Lasák respectively.

The new Civil Code as viewed by lawyers, judges, members of academia and corporate representatives will be the main topic of the New Private Law conference. KŠB Institute – KŠB’s education subsidiary – will lend support to the event as a conference partner.

Martin Šolc, one of the founding partners of leading Czech law firm Kocián Šolc Balaštík (KŠB), achieves major international success in Tokyo today by being elected Vice President of the International Bar Association.

The Centre for Comparative Law at the Law Faculty of Charles University in Prague will hold a symposium on trusts, a re-established asset management tool which, thanks to the new Civil Code, has been re-introduced to Czech law after a very long hiatus. The symposium will take place on 7 November at the Law Faculty of Charles University in Prague.

The European Court for Human Rights (ECHR) rules Czech Competition Authority’s dawn raid unlawful. The significance of the ruling stretches beyond Czech borders as it can be applied in other Member States as well.

In this issue of X Lege, you can learn about emission allowances, European regional airports and how companies are using the new options offered by the recodification.

The 20th Annual Charity Concert of Good Will is organised by Kocián Šolc Balaštík to help support one of the most respected charitable foundations in the Czech Republic.

In collaboration with the German-Czech Trade and Industrial Chamber (DTIHK), KŠB will hold two legal seminars during the International Engineering Fair in Brno at the end of September-beginning of October.

The brand new commentary on the Corporations Act should make life easier for all business corporations and their representatives. The team of authors was led by KŠB senior associate Jan Lasák, with senior associate Martin Kubík and legal assistant Josef Kříž also contributing.

Leading developer VGP recently announced the completion of one of the biggest real-estate transactions in Europe in the last decade. KŠB has advised VGP Group since 2005 and helped build the large property portfolio that was sold.

KŠB successfully represented its client in litigation with the Municipal Office of the City of Prague (the “Municipal Office”) regarding a land lease tender announced by the Municipal Office. After the Municipal Office chose another bidder, the client requested the Municipal Office to make available the bids submitted by other bidders based on its right of access to information.

KŠB’s team of tax advisors led by Helena Navrátilová was named one of the leading tax practices in the Czech Republic by World Tax 2014, a tax guide published by rating agency International Tax Review.

KŠB successfully advised and represented the Radio and Television Broadcasting Council (RTBC) before an extended chamber of the Supreme Administrative Court. The important decision concerned the criteria by which a notice from the RTBC can constitute lawful grounds for imposing a penalty.

KŠB represented Karlovarské minerální vody, a.s. in a successful lawsuit to cancel a penalty imposed on KMV by the State Preservation and Landmark Authority for an alleged administrative offence. The authorities alleged that KMV failed to look after, maintain and protect historic buildings in the municipality of Kyselka.

Hyperlinks are common. But are they lawful if they link to copyrighted documents? The European Court of Justice issued a decision on Internet links for the first time this past February.

The Corporations Act has brought a lot of positive changes since January. Members of corporations certainly welcome the option to pay profit share advances on the basis of interim financial statements, provided the corporation clearly has enough to pay them and other legal conditions are fulfilled.

The mandates of some former European MPs have stimulated legislative endeavours by Community authorities. Long sought-after rules for public contracts and concessions, and audits of financial statements, were finalized and adopted in the first months of 2014.

Despite a certain cautiousness, according to professor Jan Dědič, a KŠB partner and co-author of the legislation, one can see growing interest in the new legal institutes that are supposed to simplify the lives of firms and their managers.

In March, the European Parliament passed in the first reading an amendment to the original draft AML Directive, which requires Member States to establish registers of legal entities and trust structures in which the end owners and beneficiaries will be listed. The information is to be available to the public. This means that not only major (at least 25%) shareholders but also beneficiaries of private foundations, trusts and similar structures will be disclosed.  KŠB lawyer Vlastimil Pihera comments on the draft as follows:

From 2008 to 2012, emission allowances were allocated to electricity producers in the amount determined by the National Allocation Plan. But this originally trouble-free matter may become expensive for the state.

This past spring, KŠB partner Jiří Horník took part in an international air transport conference in Bucharest. The topic of his discussion, which you can read more about at www.patria.cz/pravo, concerned the operations of regional airports, which often have to fight for their own survival. Many regional airports rely on state aid, which has become harder to obtain following the introduction of stricter rules. In practice, many airports could wind up in trouble.

KŠB advised J&T Banka on issuing bonds that offer investors a fixed yield with no maturity date.

KŠB advises LEO Express in litigation against České dráhy, a.s. concerning compensation for damage

KŠB partner Pavel Dejl and KŠB associate Martin Krčmář comment on competition law in international publication CEE Legal Matters

Who’s Who Legal has identified KŠB Tax Partner Helena Navrátilová as one of the Czech Republic’s two experts in corporate tax.

Amendment to the Savings Income Directive

Professor Jan Dědič, a KŠB partner and expert lawyer involved in the re-enactment of Czech private law, explains how he feels about a number issues introduced by the new Corporations Act.

In 2014, Kocián Šolc Balaštík and many of its lawyers were recognized in several international legal rankings such as IFLR 2014 in categories such as M&A, banking & finance, capital markets and restructuring & insolvency.

The major theme featured by X Lege No. 3 is what the new Civil Code will bring.

Law firm KŠB has received awards from Corporate INTL, a British magazine and online database for consultancy services with a global reach.

C. H. Beck has published the first part of commentary on the new Civil Code. With contributions from KŠB attorneys Vlastimil Pihera and Jan Lasák.

Accounting

Income tax Tax on acquisition of immovable items

VAT returns to be filed electronically next year

Remus is a unique Czech project designed for exchanging data on multiple sclerosis patients. The database links separate statistics kept by governmental health institutions, health insurance companies and professional medical societies, with anonymized data helping to serve scientific, statistical and economic purposes. KŠB provided pro bono advice on personal data protection issues.

Kocián Šolc Balaštík advised Tarsago Media Group on the September 2013 acquisition of Czech and Slovak companies from the USReader’s Digest Association. The acquisition followed a May purchase of Reader’s Digest companies in Poland, Hungary and Romania which took place in line with the worldwide restructuring of Reader’s Digest’s operations.

Commission Recommendation of February 2003 on relevant product and service markets within the electronic communications sector susceptible to ex ante regulation in accordance with Directive 2002/21/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on a common regulatory framework for electronic communications networks and services Official Journal of the European Union of 8 May 2003, L 114, p. 45

VAT guarantee postponed Guarantee for VAT - Payments in special cases

Legal measures by the Senate

KŠB Managing Partner Dagmar Dubecká climbed twelve steps to #13 in this year’s TOP 25 Women of Czech Business poll held by Hospodářské noviny. Dagmar also won the category of Legal Services, Consulting & Audit.

From the 7th through the 11th of October, Kocián Šolc Balaštík will take part in the 2013 International Engineering Fair in Brno.

Invoicing rules; Vat on insurance operations; Correction of tax amounts on receivables due from debtors in insolvency proceedings; Unpaid tax to be guaranteed by recipients

Liability for unpaid tax; Collective corrective tax document; Specialized Financial Office

KŠB successfully represented WEEE collection system operator REMA Systém, a.s. in proceedings before the Supreme Administrative Court. The case involved the procedural aspects of an action filed for protection against the Ministry of the Environment’s failure to act.

The second issue of KŠB’s quarterly newsletter X Lege includes an interview with recodification co-author and KŠB partner Prof. Jan Dědič, who discusses the current wording and planned changes of the legislation accompanying the new Civil Code. This issue also includes an article on the upcoming amendment to the Income Tax Act, which is currently under consideration and which is an important step towards establishing a single collection point.