Holding law: Proposed amendment to the Commercial Companies Code
On 2 September 2021, a government bill to amend the Commercial Companies Code and other acts was submitted to the Sejm for a first reading. Among other things, the bill would introduce new principles into the Polish legal system in the form of a holding companies law, regulating the cooperation between parent companies and their subsidiaries. The rules for liability of management board and supervisory board members are also to be amended, vesting broader powers in supervisory boards to make corporate governance more effective.
Liability for binding instructions in the proposed holding law
According to the government bill to amend the Commercial Companies Code, a parent company could issue binding instructions to a subsidiary if justified by the interest of the corporate group and not barred by specific regulations. The new powers of a parent company are balanced by provisions regulating its liability for injury caused in connection with issuing binding instructions.
The amended mechanism for extended producer responsibility—part I
In August, the long-awaited bill to amend the Packaging and Packaging Waste Management Act was published on the website of the Government Legislation Centre. The aim of the regulation is to implement the new EU provisions on extended producer responsibility for packaging waste. Below, we present the most important features of the new system and attempt to evaluate them.
Recast regulation on export control of dual-use items: What will change?
The Recast Dual-Use Regulation entered into force on 9 September 2021, replacing the regulation from 2009, governing controls of items with both civil and military purposes. What key changes does the new regulation introduce?
Social insurance notification by a foreign undertaking of contracts for specific work
Whether a foreign undertaking should notify the Social Insurance Institution of contracts for specific work it has concluded is determined primarily by whether the undertaking has the status of a remitter of contributions within the meaning of Polish law.
Tales from the National Appeal Chamber: When can a performance bond exceed 5% of the total bid price or the value of the contracting authority’s liability?
When preparing contract documents, the contracting authority must decide the amount of the performance bond it will demand. As a rule, this security should amount to 5% of the total bid price or the value of the contracting authority’s liability. But when can this threshold be exceeded, and to what maximum value? This and other questions were answered in the ruling of the National Appeal Chamber of 21 October 2020 (KIO 1381/20).
New calculation of the capacity fee
The latest amendment to the Capacity Market Act (which came into force on 1 September 2021) finally introduces a preferential method of calculating the capacity fee, long awaited by companies. However, the rules for calculation of the fee are based on completely different assumptions than the relief initially expected.
News from Poland—Business & Law, Episode 8: Legal aspects of fighting cybercrime: Ransomware and data hacks
In this episode, Łukasz Lasek explains legal aspects of fighting cybercrime in the form of ransomware and data hacks. What is a ransomware attack? How can businesses protect against it? How do we help businesses after they fall victim to ransomware extortion?
The amendment to the Administrative Procedure Code of 11 August 2021: What does it actually mean, and does it live up to the declarations of the authorities?
The provisions of the Administrative Procedure Code amended on 11 August 2021 regarding the time limits for invalidating administrative decisions or finding that they were issued unlawfully will come into force on 16 September 2021. What are the real consequences of this amendment? They seem inconsistent with the pronouncements of Poland’s highest state authorities.
“Slim VAT 2”: Another reform of VAT settlements
On 19 August 2021, the President of Poland signed an act introducing a number of simplifications to VAT settlements. The changes are intended to improve taxpayers’ liquidity in connection to VAT settlements, deformalise certain procedures, and implement decisions of the Court of Justice of the European Union in cases lost by Poland.
Seeking compensation for expropriation before the county executive
A decision on compensation for real property taken by the state may also be issued by the county executive, according to Art. 129(5)(3) of the Real Estate Administration Act of 21 August 1997. When can this provision constitute a basis for determining the compensation due for expropriated property?
Image crises and the influence of culture and history on video games
There is no single recipe for success in the video game market, but some causes of problems at the distribution stage are clear. In this article, we take a cultural and historical look at the content of games. These aspects may force the producer to introduce changes in such areas as quests or a character’s appearance or “skin.” It is not always enough to meticulously analyse the game content for intellectual property issues. Sometimes it will be better to abandon some content ideas or even create several versions of a game, adapting the content to the market where the game is to be distributed.
