Before the introduction of the latest amendments to the Company Law of the Republic of North Macedonia (Company Law) on April 29, 2022, it stipulated that only loans provided by sole shareholders to their companies may be converted into share capital.  The practice of conversion overseen by the Central Registry of North Macedonia (CRM) was strict. For example, loans taken over by the shareholder from the companies of the same group were considered ineligible for conversion. 

Although companies’ financing in Bulgaria remains primarily bank-based, a transformation towards the growing importance of alternative financing has been observed in recent years. 

Notwithstanding the ongoing war, the Ukrainian banking and financial services industry continues to operate without interruptions and shows great resilience and stability. Ukrainian legislation continues to develop at the same time, bringing the standards of banking and financial services closer to the EU requirements.

Investment firms, which operate in financial markets and provide investment services to third parties, were subject to the same organizational regulations as credit institutions, despite their different business and risk profiles. Their activities are regulated by MiFID II, which was transposed by the Austrian Securities Supervision Act 2018.

In today’s global economy, credit institutions play a critical role in providing financial services to individuals, businesses, and governments. However, the failure of a credit institution may result in far-reaching consequences, as we have recently seen with banking crises in Switzerland, the US, and, potentially, Europe.

In the context of the ESG framework, under the planned allocation within the EU, Slovenia should (according to the EIB) allocate EUR 520 million per year to renewable energy sources and their efficient use, and EUR 780 million per year if we add transport, waste, and water to the equation.

An in-depth look at Roger Gladei of Gladei & Partners covering his career path, education, and top projects as a lawyer as well as a few insights about his as a manager at work and as a person outside the office.

In Turkiye, digital banking has become a hot topic in relatively recent times after the introduction of the Regulation on the Operation Principles of Digital Banks and Service Model Banking (Regulation), published in the Official Gazette dated December 29, 2021, issued by the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BRSA).

In the context of global efforts to migrate towards a green economy, based on renewable energy, the Republic of Moldova aims to improve and complete the regulatory framework applicable to the use of energy from renewable sources.

One of the most important recent buzzwords in Moldova, at the intersection of legal services and IT, is GDPR compliance and its associated complications (and opportunities) – to strictly follow both the GDPR (where applicable extraterritorially in Moldova) and the Moldovan legal framework, which is partially aligned with the EU law.

The spring of 2023 brought a genuine spring mood into the Moldovan energy sector. The overall feeling is that Moldova came out of the winter that, by many predictions, should have frozen it solid and is now eagerly looking forward to bright, although still occasionally frosty, days ahead.

On June 23, 2022, the European Council granted Moldova the status of candidate country for EU accession. ACI Partners Legal Manager Carolina Parcalab, Bivol Sotchi & Partners Managing Partner Inna Sotchi, Efrim Rosca si Asociatii Managing Partner Oleg Efrim, and Gladei & Partners Managing Partner Roger Gladei explore the recent changes in Moldova resulting from its new status.

With the ongoing war in neighboring Ukraine, Bivol Sotchi & Partners Founding Partner Andrei Bivol, Gladei & Partners Partner Iulian Pasatii, and Efrim Rosca Asociatii Managing Partner Oleg Efrim look at how the conflict has affected Moldova’s economic growth.

An in-depth look at Cristina Filip of Filip & Company covering her career path, education, and top projects as a lawyer as well as a few insights about her as a manager at work and as a person outside the office.

Restructuring, both from a financial and operational perspective, has been regarded as a wonderful “nice to have” by the Romanian market, for many years. Will this time be different?

While the war has caused extensive disruption to global shipping and is likely to intensify ongoing supply chain disruptions, port congestion, and crew crises caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, in a context where Russian ships are switching their flags amid sanctions in record numbers, an increased interest in local maritime and inland transportation has been noted, including ship registration in Romania, particularly that of barges. Thus, the Romanian registration provisions could be of interest to companies in the transportation field.

In the past years, social dialogue in Romania has decreased in significance within labor relationships, considering the quite old-fashioned framework, having no collective bargaining agreements in place at the industry level, the lack of impactful voices at the trade union level, and the lack of general awareness of the legal framework – and of its potential positive impact on how workplace representation and collective negotiations could contribute to better business performance.

Aligned with global trends, Romania’s M&A market suffered an apparently steady slowdown in terms of deal numbers in 2022, and not much has changed in the first quarter of 2023. While experts were expecting 2023 to suddenly jump back to 2021 levels, in reality, the well-known global factors having contributed to the slowdown of the market are not dialing back just yet.