In December, the European Commission (“Commission”) issued a Statement of Objections (“SO”) to Facebook’s parent company Meta Platforms Inc. The Commission said that based on its preliminary view, Facebook had violated EU antitrust rules by distorting competition for online display advertising on social media linked to Facebook Marketplace.

Since 2020, EU Member States have been obliged to make specific information on ultimate beneficial owners (“UBOs”) of corporate and other legal entities available to the general public. However, in light of the recent judgment of the Court of Justice of European Union (“CJEU”), this obligation will not remain in effect and thus, changes to the accessibility of the Hungarian UBO register are to be expected.

New thresholds triggering independent audit requirements for Turkish companies became applicable as of 1 January 2023. Below is a general overview of the applicable criteria.

In recent months, we have seen several regulatory initiatives impacting the Czech online business environment. There is a lot to unpack, which is why we have prepared a series of Legal Insights to help you understand what will change in 2023.

The Capital Markets Board ("CMB") updated some amounts subject to revaluation within the scope of capital markets legislation for the year 2023 with the Capital Markets Board Bulletin dated 30/12/2022 and numbered 2022/74 published pursuant to its decision dated 29/12/2022 and numbered 77/1900.

On 14 December 2022 the lower house, Sejm, passed a bill on family foundations. The law was then sent to the Senate, where amendments were made to it, now pending before the Sejm. Regardless of these legislative works, it is expected that the law will come into force 3 months after its promulgation. It should therefore be possible to establish a family foundation as early as the first half of 2023. 

In a recent case (C-61/21), contrary to settled case-law, the Court of Justice of the European Union did not oblige a Member State to pay compensation. Article 13 of the 2008/50/EC Directive on ambient air quality and cleaner air for Europe obliges Member States to ensure that ambient air levels of NO2 and PM10 do not exceed EU-wide limit values. A resident in the Paris region considered that the French State had failed to ensure this and by this he has suffered damage to his health since 2003, caused by the deterioration of the ambient air quality in the Paris agglomeration. For these damages, he has claimed a total of EUR 21 million from the French State as compensation.

Spanish authority for personal data protection recently passed a decision rejecting one of 101 appeals filed by NOYB, privacy activist organisation, against 101 European company for using Google Analytics.

In the 25 January 2023 final decision in the case of Ukraine and the Netherlands v. russia, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (“ECHR”) declared the complaints partly admissibile. The Grand Chamber will now decide the case on the merits.

The rapid developments in the world of technology put the law into a difficult concept puzzle to follow. While the discussions on smart contracts made with blockchain technology have not yet ended, a new organization that can direct the life of business has taken its place in the international market; Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO). This mechanism offers people new democratized ways to operate their organizations, radically separated traditional institutions.

Recruiting staff in Romania may seem daunting to employers, specifically to those foreign-owned, unfamiliar with Romanian employment legislation. Nevertheless, if certain basic rules are determined and further observed, the recruiting procedure should run smooth and clean from a legal perspective.

As of 1 January 2023, new conditions govern aid in the Polish Investment Zone (PIZ), as indicated in the new regulation implementing the Act on supporting new investments (the new PIZ regulation).

The new General Collective Agreement („GCA“) has been published at the Official Gazette of Montenegro no. 150/22 on 30, December 2022 and will be valid for period of three years from 31, December 2022 when it came into legal force.

Law No. 4054 on the Protection of Competition (“Competition Law”) applies to merger and acquisition transactions ("Transactions") since they may lead to consequences such as establishing/strengthening a dominant position or restricting effective competition in the market. Additionally, as per Communiqué No. 2010/4 Concerning the Mergers and Acquisitions Calling for the Authorization of the Competition Board ("Communiqué"), some Transactions are subject to the Competition Board's ("Board") approval. In this regard, the Turkish Competition Authority ("Authority") releases the Mergers and Acquisitions Overview Report each year to describe the overview of the Transactions examined within its body and thus provides a breakdown of the Transactions that took place in the market as along with a broad market overview. The Mergers and Acquisitions Report for 2022 ("Report") was published and made public by the Authority on January 6, 2023.

In its recent decision in re Smusta a.s., the Supreme Court ruled on the possibility to avoid a corporate transformation in insolvency proceedings.

As investors continue to seek a safe haven after the collapse of crypto exchanges, cryptocurrency companies have begun to resort to new ways to restore confidence. The most important issue in the market is whether cryptocurrency companies have enough assets to cover their customers' funds.

Under the Polish Medical Devices Act of 7 April 2022 (the MDA), surveillance over medical device advertising is exercised in principle by the President of the Office for Registration of Medicinal Products, Medical Devices and Biocidal Products (the URPL), and in certain cases, by the Minister of Health or the Chief Sanitary Inspector.

Contributed by Arzinger.