Legal
New regulation of beneficial ownership
The Ministry of Justice has recently prepared a bill on the register of beneficial owners, which should replace and enhance the transparency of the existing beneficial ownership regulation contained in the Act on Public Registers and the AML Act …
Simpler liquidation of corporations?
The government approved a draft decree aiming to simplify the liquidation process for legal entities from an administrative and financial viewpoint. Some entities will be entirely released from their duty to publish the date of their entering into…
Personal Data Protection Office imposes first fines for GDPR breaches
With the adoption of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has come considerable uncertainty among personal data controllers and processors as to the amount of penalties to be imposed by the Personal Data Protection Office for its breaches.…
Parliament passes extensive amendment to Foreign Nationals’ Residence Act
The amendment underwent significant changes in the course of the legislative process. The approved wording includes the government’s authorisation to set economic migration quotas and to activate extraordinary work visas. The amendment will also…
Amendment to Asset Valuation Act to define market value
Draft amendment to the Asset Valuation Act submitted by the government to parliament aims to introduce a definition of market value as an alternative valuation method into Czech law. If passed, the new law should enter into effect on 1 January 2021.
Revolution in AML to affect all legal entities
With the implementation deadline for the fifth AML Directive approaching, preparations of legislative proposals transposing it into Czech laws are underway, including, among others, an amendment to the Czech AML Act (No. 253/2008 Coll. – Act on…
Class action lawsuits are coming to the Czech Republic. Retail better get ready!
A separate bill drafted by the justice ministry is to introduce the class action to Czech law, allowing holders (or purported holders) of identical or similar claims to assert these in court jointly, in single proceedings. This could mainly affect…
CNB to crack down on sales of bonds to non-professional clients
The Czech National Bank (CNB) issued Supervisory Benchmark No. 2/2019 on acquisitions of investment instruments by clients or investment funds, tightening the rules of acquiring complex investment instruments (namely corporate bonds) by so-called…
EU Copyright Directive finally adopted
In mid-May, the EU directive regulating copyright in the digital single market was published in the European Union’s Official Journal. The final and concrete extent of the new rights and duties will only be known once Czech legislators adopt the…
Outsourcing in financial services – new and stricter guidelines
The European Banking Authority (EBA) has issued new and stricter guidelines on outsourcing arrangements, affecting all entities subject to its supervision, including payment and electronic money institutions. EBA’s guidelines have been prepared in…
New EU Prospectus Regulation: more obligations for issuers or less strict rules?
What major changes in disclosing information about securities are to be introduced by Regulation (EU) 2017/1129 of the European Parliament and the Council? The regulation will be directly applicable from 21 July of this year. Will issuers of…
Establishing trades or corporations easily, quickly and on-line?
To the Chamber of Deputies, a group of deputies has submitted a motion to amend legislation regulating the establishment of corporations. The proposal should enable the establishment of a trade or a limited liability company easily from home via the…