| In Principle

Participation in a limited-liability company in Poland may end either as a result of acquisition of the shareholder’s shares by another entity or as a result of elimination of the shares, i.e. redemption. This mechanism is more and more common and used for various purposes in the course of M&A transactions consisting in the acquisition of only a portion of a company’s share capital. Then, it becomes an element of the shareholders’ agreement and thus of the articles of association which are to take effect and regulate the rights and obligations of the parties upon completion of the transaction.

The popularity of remote work and its various forms, including digital nomadism, is not waning. Unconstrained by national borders or the nationality of employees, employers taking advantage of the global labour market must take into account a number of legal aspects not present in traditional employment. These involve not only issues of supervision of work performance or compensating employees for out-of-office costs, but above all, issues such as the law applicable to the employment relationship and legalisation of the employee’s work and residence in the country of work.

The Polish government has announced that in place of WIBOR (the Warsaw Interbank Offered Rate) it will introduce a new benchmark index, promising lower values than WIBOR, which will reduce the loan repayment burden on borrowers. This new index, which will shortly be used also for calculating instalments on PLN loans taken out by businesses, will be described by Konrad Werner.

On the Polish energy market, the recent months will be remembered for many reasons. Historically high electricity and natural gas prices have forced changes to a number of established practices. During the crisis, several mechanisms have been created to mitigate its effects—primarily high utility prices. Among other things, a cap on the price of electricity sold to selected end users is being introduced. We now briefly examine whether the Act on Emergency Measures to Restrict Electricity Prices and Support Certain Consumers in 2023 is likely to live up to its name.

High energy prices are greatly impacting economies around the world. Recognising the state of crisis, the European Union is introducing a number of amendments to the law to mitigate the effects of high electricity prices. In Poland, support instruments are governed by the Electricity Price Act and are intended to benefit electricity end users such as households and SMEs. Thus for companies it is crucial to assess their own size.

Entities transferring personal data outside the European Economic Area on the basis of standard contractual clauses that are no longer in force (where the transfer began before 27 September 2021) should conclude agreements based on new clauses by 27 December 2022.

Along with a foundation and a non-profit company, a representative office of a foreign foundation is one of the legal forms through which charitable activities can be carried out in Poland. However, due to a sparsity of regulations, the functioning of representative offices of foundations in Polish law is not entirely clear. The topic is particularly timely, as with the outbreak of war in Ukraine many foreign foundations wanting to operate in Poland have voiced the need to open representative offices here. Previously, such outposts were relatively rare, as there was little need for them.

As of 29 June 2022, the rights and obligations under three types of decisions issued under the Public Roads Act can be transferred to another entity. These are decisions permitting the location or reconstruction of an exit from a public road; placement of devices and advertising in a right of way; or occupation of a right of way for purposes not related to construction, reconstruction, repair, maintenance or protection of roads.

Joanna Werner, attorney-at-law in the Banking & Project Finance practice at Wardyński & Partners, focuses on the forthcoming landmark changes to the Polish and European regulatory environment surrounding crypto assets and their impact on how companies in this innovative area do business in Poland and the EU.

The judgment of the Supreme Administrative Court of 8 September 2022 has broken a relatively uniform line of decisions banning online alcohol sales.

A request for a payment guarantee may appear on an investor’s desk suddenly, causing numerous complications. Sometimes, contractors make such a demand to have an excuse to withdraw from the contract. Then a race against the clock begins, not to give them that excuse. But in advance, the investor can also arrange a commercial solution to the problem, i.e. a bank guarantee facility in the loan agreement.

It has been a month since the president of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection published the Recommendations on social media advertising labelling. Now the regulator is back with a collection of FAQs from users concerning the recommendations.
It has been a month since the president of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection published the Recommendations on social media advertising labelling. Now the regulator is back with a collection of FAQs from users concerning the recommendations.