In media

Martin Šolc, a partner at KSB, recently published his reflections on the highly publicized but rather unsuccessful fight against corruption in Hospodářské noviny’s Leaders Voice column on 2 September 2011.

On 29 August 2011 Lidové noviny published an article by KSB lawyer Christian Blatchford on the British Bribery Act 2010 in its Law & Justice supplement. The Bribery Act, which came into force on 1 July 2011, may have a certain impact on Czech corporations which have a business connection with Britain. Its impact, however, is unlikely to be as great as originally expected.

Czech newspaper Hospodářské noviny featured an article by Martin Šolc’s in its “Leaders Voice” column on 22 July 2011. In the article Martin reflects on Czech attitudes to law. Shouldn’t we be aware of the principles on which laws are based rather than yearning for more and more regulations to cover every eventuality? And does everyone sufficiently respect the law?

Václav Rovenský and Tomáš Sequens prepared a chapter focused on the Czech Republic for the international publication Getting the Deal Through – Gas Regulation, 2011 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.

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.

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.

In the international publication IFLR M&A Guide 2011, Dagmar Dubecká, Martin Kubík, and Christian Blatchford describe the current situation on the mergers and acquisitions market in the Czech Republic, including the legal regulation of individual types of M&A transactions and aspects of competition law.

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)

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)

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.