News

Kocián Šolc Balaštík partners Jan Dědič and Dagmar Dubecká acquainted listeners of Český rozhlas (Czech Broadcasting) with changes that are to be implemented through the new Corporation Act. The new Corporation Act passed through the first reading in the Lower House on June 8 2011 as part of the amendment to the Civil Code.

On 6 June 2011 the Law & Justice supplement of Lidové noviny published an article on abbreviated construction proceedings by KSB lawyers Dana Čiháková and Petr Sedlatý. Even though the abbreviated construction proceedings were introduced in an attempt to simplify approval proceedings, legislative loopholes have resulted in fairly broad misuse. But recently, the Municipal Court in Prague issued a breakthrough judgment eliminating such misuse to a certain extent.

Tax advisor and head of KSB’s tax department Helena Navrátilová appeared as a guest on Czech television ČT24’s program Studio ČT24. The topic was the press conference by the Ministry of Finance focused on tax evasions and other measures presented by Minister M. Kalousek and CEO J. Knížek.

KSB partner Petr Kasík and KSB attorney Vlastimil Pihera published a brief commentary in the section Law & Justice of Lidové noviny on the award of the First Senate of the Constitutional Court dated March 2011 regarding the legal regulation of squeeze-outs.

KSB tax advisor Dalibor Bucek wrote an article on taxation of foreign income of legal entities for the weekly Euro. He addressed the decisive criteria to determine which country a company’s income is to be taxed in, how to settle an incorrectly withheld tax in a foreign country and how to take all these aspects into consideration when preparing a tax return. The whole article can be downloaded here (in Czech only)

Law firm Kocián Šolc Balaštík provided legal counseling to the American-British company Interval International Limited, a pioneer in exchange services of vacation ownerships with a network of approximately 2,600 resorts in over 75 countries, relating to a consumer contract. The contract sets forth the terms of participation in the exchange membership program for owners of vacation interests at accommodation that allow consumers to exchange their occupancy right or other services connected with timeshare.

E-mailed tax documents Corrections to provided discounts and bonuses

Stricter conditions for fuel distributors

Sickness and pension insurance

Estimated items – employee bonuses

Law firm Kocián Šolc Balaštík successfully represented its client, a major Czech insurance company, in a dispute concerning a claim to insurance proceeds in the amount of CZK 127 million with interest and charges.

On 23 February 2011 the new Act No. 28/2011, Coll., became effective. The act amends the Civil Code No. 40/1964, Coll., and other related regulations. This amendment implements Directive No. 2008/122/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 January 2009 on the protection of consumers in respect of certain aspects of timeshare, long-term holiday product, resale and exchange contracts into Czech law.

The date of 5 May 2011 became an important milestone for Kocián Šolc Balaštík’s provision of legal advice in recent years to Řízení letového provozu ČR, s.p. (Air Navigation Services of the Czech Republic) when an international agreement was signed in the Slovenian city of Brdo to create a so-called functional airspace block. The agreement was signed between the seven Central European countries of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Austria, Slovakia and Slovenia. Air traffic control services are to be optimized and provided in the functional airspace block regardless of state borders.

Jan Dědič, KSB partner and member of the Recodification Commission preparing the act on commercial companies and cooperatives, gave an interview to the daily financial newspaper Hospodářské noviny on changes to the law of commercial companies in connection with the recodification of private law that is being prepared.

On 4 April 2011 Lidové noviny published in its supplement Law & Justice an overview of the most significant changes to VAT that affect all VAT payers as of 1 April 2011 in connection with Act No. 47/2011, Coll., amending Act No. 235/2004, Coll., the VAT Act. The overview of the changes in VAT was prepared for Lidové noviny by law firm Kocián Šolc Balaštík. The whole article can be downloaded here (in Czech only)

Lidové noviny published an interview with KSB partner Jan Dědič in its supplement Law & Justice on 4 April 2011:

KSB partner Dagmar Dubecká gave an interview to the magazine Law & Business concerning the Czech legal environment, application of law, creation of laws and overlapping of Czech legislation with EU legislation. The interview also addressed her main area where she is one of the top attorneys of the Czech scene – mergers and acquisitions.

International rating publication The International Who’s Who of Competition Lawyers and Economists 2011 has again nominated KSB partner Pavel Dejl as a recommended specialist in the field of competition law in the Czech Republic. Pavel Dejl has received this recommendation repeatedly since 2006. For this year, Who’s Who Legal’s recommendation in the field of competition law was granted to only five attorneys in the Czech Republic.

KSB attorney Tomáš Sequens gave an expert presentation titled “Potential compensation for damages from changes, if any, to zoning plans that render original intentions impossible” at the 2011 Industrial Landscape Conference in Havirov on 22 March 2011.

Law firm Kocián Šolc Balaštík advised the Ontex Global Group on the Czech aspects of the EUR 50 million refinancing of its existing credit facilities along with the Group's first bond offering (EUR 675 million Senior Secured Notes and EUR 250,000,000 Senior Notes).

On 25 March 2011, the General Directorate of Customs (“GRC”) published information concerning exemption from VAT for imports of goods.

Information of the General Financial Directorate on the application of gift tax on free emission allowances; Supplementation to the Communication of the General Financial Directorate concerning levies pursuant to the Act on Renewable Sources; Information of the General Financial Directorate on the institute of guarantee pursuant to the provisions of Sections 109 and 109a of Act No. 235/2004, Coll., on Value Added Tax (“VAT Act”); Instruction No. GFŘ-D-4, setting forth the format and structure of an extract from records for tax purposes pursuant to Section 92a(6) of the VAT Act

The amendment to the VAT Act

KSB attorney Martina Parusová Zímová was recently elected to the administrative council of the Czech Franchise Association for the period of 2011 through 2013 at a membership meeting of the association.

KSB attorneys Petr Kasík and Juraj Hudák wrote an exclusive contribution on liability of directors and its specific issues in the Czech legal environment. The text was published in the international publication Directors’ Liability and Indemnification.

KSB lawyers will lecture on issues relating to Czech renewable resources on the Czech-Polish Energy Day in Ostrava on 20 April 2011. The lecture will include information on the fundamental principles on which the draft bill on subsidized energy resources is based, including comparison with the currently applicable legislation.

Kocián Šolc Balaštík will hold a workshop on 6 April 2011 on selected major provisions of the Code of Tax Procedure and the up-to-date interpretation of the VAT Act amendment that took force and effect on 1 April 2011. The workshop is to be further focused on the case-law impact on conflict between employment and office.

For the third year in row, Václav Rovenský and Ján Béreš prepared an up-to-date overview of Czech legal regulations in the electricity sector for the worldwide publication Getting the Deal Through – Electricity Regulation 2011. The overview summarizes the current regulations of the electricity business in the Czech Republic and focuses inter alia on topics relating to the determination of electricity prices in the Czech Republic. The publication was issued by the London-based market analysis company Law Business Research Ltd. The text can be downloaded here

Law firm Kocián Šolc Balaštík successfully represented Reckitt Benckiser (Czech Republic), spol. s r.o. in proceedings before the Antimonopoly Office in the matter of potential infringement of competition rules by concluding a prohibited agreement on direct or indirect determination of prices and other commercial conditions on the washing powders market. The proceedings were terminated through settlement.

Kocián Šolc Balaštík is one of five Czech law firms nominated for this year’s Chambers Europe Awards for Excellence in the category of National Firms. KSB won the award in 2008 and was shortlisted as one of the best law firms in 2009 and 2010.

Communication of the General Financial Directorate on tax pursuant to the Act on Renewable Resources; Instruction of the General Financial Directorate No. GFŘ-D-2 on the method of calculation of corporate income tax and compilation of tax returns for taxation period 2010 by taxpayers using the component depreciation method to depreciate their assets; The General Financial Directorate provided supplementing instructions to complete the form for the statement of income tax from employment income for 2010 and supplementing information on applications for tax bonuses; Changed deadline for filing tax returns and tax statements

The amendment to the VAT Act

Value Added Tax Act

IFLR1000 – The Guide to the World’s Leading Financial Law Firms, a prestigious international rating publication, has recommended KSB in all categories for the year 2011. KSB, as in previous years, has been recognized as a leading law firm in the Czech Republic in the fields of capital markets, banking and project finance, mergers & acquisitions and restructuring and insolvency.

KSB’s comments on upcoming major changes to the Civil Code were published in Lidové noviny’s supplement Law & Justice on 7 February 2011. The amended Civil Code, together with the Commercial Companies and Cooperatives Act and Private International Law Act, lays the foundation for recodification of private law.

Christian Blatchford publishes an article in the PPP Bulletin, the professional quarterly of the PPP Association, proposing a realistic solution for accelerating construction of the D3 motorway in the form of PPP. To download the article click here.

Christian Blatchford publishes an article in the PPP Bulletin, the professional quarterly of the PPP Association, drawing attention to joint characteristics of project financing and PPP – Public Private Partnerships, i.e. the cooperation between public and private sector. To download the article (in Czech only) click here.

Jan Dědič and Petr Kasík published an article in the professional monthly Obchodněprávní revue, which specializes in commercial law and law of financial markets, on the topic of decisions of the sole member of the company in events where such sole member is a foreign subject. The article addresses the consequences arising from the Supreme Court of the Czech Republic ruling that a decision of the sole member does not constitute a legal act.

Christian Blatchford publishes an article in the PPP Bulletin, the professional quarterly of the PPP Association, appealing for acceleration of implementation of PPP projects in the Czech Republic as necessary. To download the article (in Czech only) click here.

The Bank Board of the Czech National Bank appointed Petr Kasík, a KSB partner, as the chairman of the III Chamber of the Czech National Bank’s Appeals Committee effective as of 1 January 2011. Petr Kasík has been on the Czech National Bank’s Appeals Committee since 2008.

Jan Lasák published an article in Epravo.cz Magazine addressing issues associated with lawsuits filed by minority shareholders. These issues are fairly relevant at present as lawsuits filed by “professional” minority shareholders constitute an imprescriptible means of coercion that managers of public limited companies with minority shareholders must keep in mind and deal with in managing and administrating the company’s affairs. To download the article (in Czech only) click here

The Senate, at the 4th session held on 26 January 2011, returned the VAT Act with two proposed amendments to the House of Representatives

Information on filing real estate tax returns; Summary of 2011 real estate tax coefficients; Translation of selected chapters of the Transfer Prices Directive; 2010 Uniform Exchange Rates

Change of duties of parties that pay tax effective as of 1 January 2011

Judgment by the Supreme Administrative Court regarding the Executive’s employment

Value Added Tax Act

Discounts on insurance – Act No. 221/2009 Coll. amending Act No. 589/1992 Coll. on Social Security Insurance Contributions and Act No. 586/1992 Coll. on Income Taxes; The Payment System Act; The Amendment to the Act of Administration of Taxes and Fees through the Payment System Act

Notification of the Finance Ministry dated 2 December 2008 on classification of tangible assets into depreciation groups; Decree sets foreign meal allowances for 2009; Information on application of the provisions of Section 36, subsection 11 of the VAT Act

Jan Lasák is the author of the first publication of a new series by Wolters Kluwer that brings a practical and complex collection of the valid current wording of communitary legal regulations from the field of law of commercial companies together with the decision-making practice of the European Court of Justice.

Kocián Šolc Balaštík represented Mr. Miloš Červenka and his company MCA, a.s. in respect of a major real estate deal with PPF group. The concluded agreements concern extensive land parcels intended for the execution of development projects in and around Prague together with other investment partners.

The Czech newspaper Lidové noviny published on 3 January 2011 and on 10 January 2011 in its section Law & Justice (Právo & Justice) an overview as prepared by Kocián Šolc Balaštík, of the most important legal and tax changes valid since the start of January 2011.

Czech Television (Česká televize) presented a news report on the subject of the Commercial Register in the Czech Republic and Poland with Darina Kovačíková, attorney at Kocián Šolc Balaštík’s office in Ostrava. The report can be found on www.ct24.cz/zive, in Archive section, broadcast on 3 December 2010, Události v regionech (Ostrava) TV show, broadcast time 04:23 (minute of the show 19:30 to 22).

Helena Navrátilová, the head of KSB tax team, has been interviewed regarding the new Tax Procedure Code (valid since January 2011) and also on other changes in tax regulations coming this year, in the Téma Z1 show broadcast on the news and public affairs television station Z1.

Kocián Šolc Balaštík successfully represented Asiana spol. s r.o. (a limited liability company) in the matter of investigation by the Office for the Protection of Competition  (the “Office”) of violation by STUDENT AGENCY, s.r.o. (a limited liability company) of Act on the Protection of Competition.

On 25 November 2010 Kocián Šolc Balaštík held, in cooperation with the Czech-Polish Chamber of Commerce and Polish law firm Wardyński & Partners, a specialist seminar focused on basic differences in legal regulation of business activities in the Czech Republic and Poland.

KSB partner Martin Šolc comments in the weekly Euro on the need to push through the new Civil Code and Act on Corporations. He draws attention to a number of problems caused by existing legal regulations for entrepreneurial environment, for example the existence of two different legal regimes for one and the same agreement, the institute of invalidity of legal acts and others. The whole article can be downloaded here (in Czech only).

KSB partner Martin Šolc, who specializes in advisory on transactions in the field of mergers and acquisitions, has also been performing professional activities for a long time with the International Bar Association (IBA), a leading organization of international legal practitioners, bar associations and law societies, bringing together more than forty thousand attorneys and one hundred and ninety-seven chambers of attorneys on all continents.

Notification of the Finance Ministry dated 2 December 2008 on classification of tangible assets into depreciation groups; Decree sets foreign meal allowances for 2009; Information on application of the provisions of Section 36, subsection 11 of the VAT Act

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued in July 2010 a resolution concerning application of VAT to invoices for delivery of goods or provision of services that contain an error that is not in compliance with all conditions imposed by Articles 167, 178, letter a), point 1 and Article 226 of the Council Directive No. 2006/112/EC (“Directive”).

Amendment to the Act on Local Financial Authorities: Changes to Respective Roles of Authorities and a Specialized Financial Office

Amendment to the Act on Local Financial Authorities: Changes to Respective Roles of Authorities and a Specialized Financial Office

Notification of the Finance Ministry dated 2 December 2008 on classification of tangible assets into depreciation groups; Decree sets foreign meal allowances for 2009; Information on application of the provisions of Section 36, subsection 11 of the VAT Act

Law firm Kocián Šolc Balaštík has been named leading law firm in the category of company and competition law in the Law Firm of the Year 2010 competition, organized by Epravo.cz.

Law firm Kocián Šolc Balaštík provided legal services to the group Banque Privée Edmond de Rothschild Europe in connection with the opening of its agency in the Czech Republic. KSB’s advice focused on in particular preparation and submission of an application to the Czech National Bank for registration of the agency of the group Banque Privée Edmond de Rothschild Europe.

Law firm Kocián Šolc Balaštík provided legal advisory to TRADE B.G.M. a.s. in connection with its development of a plant for the mining and treatment of kaolin in the city of Dong Hoi in Vietnam, in the approximate value of CZK 450 million.

Law firm Kocián Šolc Balaštík is again organizing its traditional Charity Concert for the Good Will Committee of the Olga Havel Foundation. The now sixteenth annual concert will be held on 21 November 2010 from 7 p.m. in the Church of St. Simon and St. Jude, Old Town Prague.

Kocián Šolc Balaštík advised REMA Systém, a.s., a waste electrical and electronic equipment collection system operator which won an administrative lawsuit against a decision by the Minister of Environment. The proceedings concerned the refusal of an application to register REMA Systém, a.s. in the so-called List of manufacturers of electrical devices that are to be in charge of ensuring the financing of the disposal and handling of historical electrical devices within class 3 – IT and telecommunications equipment.

Kocián Šolc Balaštík provides ongoing legal advice to Penzijní fond České pojišťovny, a.s., in particular most recently in connection with the amendment to the Pension Insurance Act.

Tomáš Sequens and Martin Škrabal prepared a summary of the legal regulations concerning the environment sector in the Czech Republic for the publication The International Comparative Legal Guide to: Environment Law 2009. The publication was issued by the British company Global Legal Group Ltd. The document can be downloaded here

Václav Rovenský and Tomáš Sequens prepared a chapter focused on the Czech Republic for the international publication Getting the Deal Through – Gas Regulation, 2010 edition; the chapter summarizes legal regulations and conditions for business activities on the gas market in the Czech Republic. The publication was issued by the London based market analysis company Law Business Research Ltd. The document can be downloaded here

Václav Rovenský and Ján Béreš prepared an up-to-date summary of the legal regulations concerning the electroenergy business in the Czech Republic for the publication Electricity Regulation 2010 in the series Getting the Deal Through. The publication was issued by the London based market analysis company Law Business Research Ltd. The document can be downloaded here