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EUROPE
Bankruptcy - A New Guise
PETERKA & PARTNERS v.o.s., Prague, Czech Republic
by Michal Spinar
It has been 15 years now since bankruptcy law was reinstated in the Czech Republic. In the course of that period, it has been changed and adapted several times. Now, both businessmen and non-businessmen resident in the Czech Republic may look forward to seeing a brand-new bankruptcy law coming into practice. The modern concept of bankruptcy for both natural and legal persons in the form of the new Insolvency Act has recently passed through the legislative process and will become effective as of 1 July 2007. However, only practise will tell if this fresh and new concept will be capable of assisting in remedying the malaise that the Czech Republic has suffered from in resolving the problems of excessively indebted or insolvent entrepreneurs during the last 15 years.
[FULL STORY]
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The Dutch Go Into the Offensive
Udink & De Jong, The Netherlands
by Peter Kirpensteijn and Bereket Gündüz
Amendments towards a more competitive tax system
· Reduction of the corporate income tax rate from 29.6 % to 25.5%;
· Reduction of the dividend withholding tax rate from 25% to 15%;
· Introduction of a royalty box with an effective tax rate of 10%;
· Introduction of an interest box for group interest income with an effective tax rate of 5%;
· Favorable amendments to the so-called participation exemption, under which benefits derived from participations (including capital gains realized and dividends received) are exempt.
1. Executive summary
For decades The Netherlands was well known as attractive (tax) residency country for international operating groups. Its assets were an attractive tax climate, a favorable geographic location, a good physical infrastructure, a highly educated working population and a stable political and social environment. As a consequence, The World Economic Forum ranked The Netherlands in the world top five of most attractive countries of residence.
[FULL STORY]
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Infiniteland Ltd and John Steward Aviss v Artisan Contracting Ltd [2005] EWCA Civ 758
Memery Crystal, London
by Nicholas Scott
All English corporate lawyers and, many of their clients, will be intimately familiar with the process of negotiating warranties and disclosures as part of commercial deals. The functions of those warranties and any disclosures are well known: to elicit information about the target and to qualify any warranties given. What is less well understood, but of crucial significance to both parties, is the extent of disclosure that must be made by a vendor to forestall any warranty claims and whether, in the context of such a claim, a purchaser will be prevented from suing for breach of warranty because his agents were aware of it before entering the agreement. A recent decision of the English Court of Appeal makes clear that the English courts will look to the terms of the agreement to determine both of these points. Accordingly, anybody concluding a contract subject to English law should take particular care to negotiate and correctly document the position in relation to these areas.
[FULL STORY]
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Commercial agents - a new beginning?
Fladgate Fielder, London, England
by Andrew Kaufman
The vexing problem relating to the issue of the calculation of compensation payable to commercial agents on termination of their agency agreement has arisen once more in the revolutionary judgment of the Court of Appeal in the case of Lonsdale v Howard & Hallam Limited [2006] EWCA Civ 63 made on 6 February 2006.
[FULL STORY]
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Principles of new corporate income tax regime to become effective on 2009 disclosed for public debate in Estonia
Law Office Tark & Co, Tallinn, Estonia
by Piret Jesse
Recently Ministry of Finance disclosed the proposal to introduce the taxation of accumulated profits of the corporations on an annual basis at the rate of 10% from the beginning of 2009.
[FULL STORY]
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From March 2006 Employers Have No Right to Terminate the Employment Contracts Due to the Age of the Employee
Law Office Tark & Co, Tallinn, Estonia
by Toomas Taube
In March 2006, certain changes to the Estonian Employment Contracts Act came into force. The changes are related to the right of the employer to unilaterally terminate the employment contract with an old-age employee.
[FULL STORY]
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Re-evaluating Your Property Strategy is En Vogue in the Retail Industry
Fladgate Fielder, London, England
by Nick Ellis
'This article first appeared in Retail Bulletin in May 2006'.
Regularly, when I advise on acquisitions and disposals of property portfolios, the investigations that I carry out bring a few surprises to the client.
[FULL STORY]
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Difficult Times for Tenants
Fladgate Fielder, London, England
by Alison Mould
'This article first appeared in Retail Bulletin in June 2006'.
In the first of our articles, Nick Ellis considered ways in which a tenant could review its property strategy when facing difficult times. In this article, I will be considering what tenants can learn about exit strategies from other tenants’ mistakes.
[FULL STORY]
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What To Do When Things Are Going Really Wrong
Fladgate Fielder, London, England
by Alison Mould
'This article first appeared in Retail Bulletin in June 2006'.
In the third part of our series of articles where we consider difficult times for retail tenants, we now look at the various options when things go really wrong.
[FULL STORY]
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The New Building Act in the Czech Republic– A short leap forward
PETERKA & PARTNERS v.o.s., Prague, Czech Republic
by Ladislav Chundela
On March 14, 2006 the Czech Parliament finally approved the new Building Act which will become effective on January 1, 2007. The government promised that the whole approval process conducted by the Building Authorities will be sped up and simplified, but investors and developers remain rather sceptical that life will become easier for them next year.
In our opinion the new law addresses many problems with the application of the current Building Act but does not place the services provided to the public by the Building Authorities onto a new qualitative level, as was expected by the public. Some views have already been expressed that work on a totally new Building Act will have to start very soon.
[FULL STORY]
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