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The Buzz in Hungary: Interview with Levente Csengery of KCG Partners

The Buzz in Hungary: Interview with Levente Csengery of KCG Partners

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“To be honest, I think the government handled the crisis as well as possible," says Levente Csengery, Partner at KCG Partners. “The COVID-19 regulations do exactly what they’re supposed to – protect public health and keep us all alive, and they’re working.“ At the time of writing, Hungary has had 3535 confirmed cases (and 460 deaths) from the new coronavirus. 

Still, tackling the public health elements of the crisis is only part of the overall response. “The economic blowback has been significant and we’re all feeling it,“ Csengery says. “There have been layoffs left and right – both individual and collective dismissals.“ Csengery specializes in Employment law, and he is directly involved, he says, with “many such cases, so I’m pretty aware of them and the impact they have on people’s lives. However, I feel that there is light at the end of the tunnel and I think that this can be an opportunity for many businesses to transform their operating models to suit the new normal – this would, eventually, lead to an uptick in employment as well.“

As for new legislation designed to tackle the crisis, Csengery reports that “many of the laws are a bit unclear as to what they seek to achieve – which leads to us, as lawyers, being forced to interpret them in a restrictive, conservative, manner.“ He feels that this may prevent these legislative measures from achieving their full potential. “This was to be expected – the sole focus of our legislative bodies was the crisis and pumping out laws as quickly as possible to deal with it. What we’re in right now is a constant feedback loop to the government and they’re working tirelessly to improve these and concretize them so that businesses can have more predictability in their operations.“

Ultimately, Csengery says that he remains optimistic that the crisis can end by 2020. “Hungary's numbers are looking good and we’re doing all we can to keep the curve flat,“ he says. “People are switching to remote working in many sectors of the economy and it should start improving in the coming months as well.“ He says that business models of many businesses "are undergoing transformation and fine-tuning, and I think that this can only benefit the economy.“

Hungary Knowledge Partner

Nagy és Trócsányi was founded in 1991, turned into limited professional partnership (in Hungarian: ügyvédi iroda) in 1992, with the aim of offering sophisticated legal services. The firm continues to seek excellence in a comprehensive and modern practice, which spans international commercial and business law. 

The firm’s lawyers provide clients with advice and representation in an active, thoughtful and ethical manner, with a real understanding of clients‘ business needs and the markets in which they operate.

The firm is one of the largest home-grown independent law firms in Hungary. Currently Nagy és Trócsányi has 26 lawyers out of which there are 8 active partners. All partners are equity partners.

Nagy és Trócsányi is a legal entity and registered with the Budapest Bar Association. All lawyers of the Budapest office are either members of, or registered as clerks with, the Budapest Bar Association. Several of the firm’s lawyers are admitted attorneys or registered as legal consultants in New York.

The firm advises a broad range of clients, including numerous multinational corporations. 

Our activity focuses on the following practice areas: M&A, company law, litigation and dispute resolution, real estate law, banking and finance, project financing, insolvency and restructuring, venture capital investment, taxation, competition, utilities, energy, media and telecommunication.

Nagy és Trócsányi is the exclusive member firm in Hungary for Lex Mundi – the world’s leading network of independent law firms with in-depth experience in 100+countries worldwide.

The firm advises a broad range of clients, including numerous multinational corporations. Among our key clients are: OTP Bank, Sberbank, Erste Bank, Scania, KS ORKA, Mannvit, DAF Trucks, Booking.com, Museum of Fine Arts of Budapest, Hungarian Post Pte Ltd, Hiventures, Strabag, CPI Hungary, Givaudan, Marks & Spencer, CBA.

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