Through several moves in recent months, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) has demonstrated its will to put its proverbial money where its mouth is when it comes to ESG. Businesses often resort to window dressing in their ESG reports to showcase a pretty picture, using appealing ESG vocabulary without actually committing to any of these goals and values, and most importantly, without any accountability for what is being reported. The SEC seems to be interested in putting an end to such attitudes. The body is increasingly showing resolve in addressing the practice of greenwashing reports and is doing […]
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The Serbian Competition Authority (‘’SCA’’) revealed yesterday the long-awaited new Guidelines on bid-rigging (‘’Guidelines’’). The Guidelines provide essential instructions on how to detect rigged bids in public procurement procedures. They come 11 years after they were last updated, reflecting the latest amendments to the Public Procurement Act and the Criminal Code. This news is crucial as the new Guidelines aim to prevent and hinder bid-rigging, an illegal practice where bidders collude to decide the winner, resulting in a higher price than may have been achieved in a truly competitive bidding process. As prices are driven up in public procurement processes, […]
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What has been in the making for years now is set to become a reality very soon. The EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (“CBAM”) is expected to be adopted at the plenary session of the European Parliament, which will be held on June 7, 2022. The EU is finalizing its plans to introduce a charge at its border for carbon emissions associated with products sold in the EU. This is likely to mark a tectonic shift in international trade with far-reaching implications for businesses and economies around the world that rely on exporting their goods to the European Union. In […]
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Gecić Law is delighted to present to you a series dedicated to the individuals who are responsible for the firm’s continued successes over the years, as seen through the eyes of this year’s The Legal 500 EMEA rankings. In this first edition, Gecić Law brings you a success story dedicated to Ivana Stojanović Raišić who was recognized by the Legal 500 as a Rising Star in our Competition Law practice. After joining the Gecić Law team five years ago, Ivana has built a fully rounded experience in Competition Law, Banking & Finance and M&A, which she further refined by delivering […]
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Keeping up with the latest news concerning the ESG can be hard considering all the related events shaking the globe lately. However, there may be a few of us who have not heard of Elon Musk’s outburst last week about ESG being “an outrageous scam” after Tesla was dropped from the S&P 500 ESG Index. Why is this news important? Let’s start from the beginning. When investors began considering aspects other than profit in their investments, that was the turning point for many corporations. The launch of the S&P 500 ESG Index meant an evolution in (sustainable) investments, addressing the […]
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Leading economic minds are highlighting climate change as one of the most threatening factors to today’s relative economic prosperity. Although environmental policies have been in place for a long time, they appear to have had little impact in practice. The lack of clear definition and specific rules in the field may be an important factor, as this has been a cause of much concern and given raise to questionable practices, including the growing phenomenon of greenwashing – a deceptive method of marketing in which a product, good, or service is presented to appear to follow environmental protection principles intended to […]
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On May 10, 2022, the European Commission adopted a new Vertical Block Exemption Regulation (“VBER“) and related guidelines (“Vertical Guidelines“), following a detailed review of the previous Vertical Block Exemption Regulation dating to 2010 (“old VBER“). The objective of the VBER is to exempt agreements between undertakings operating at different levels of the supply chain (“vertical agreements”): if certain market share thresholds are met, and provided the agreement does not contain certain prohibited restrictions (“hardcore restrictions”). In other words, the VBER aims to recognize which types of vertical agreements are generally efficiency-enhancing and provide benefits to consumers. One of the […]
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Our colleagues Danica Misojčić, senior associate and Suzana Dončić, associate, led an interesting webinar yesterday, titled “Successful Accounts Receivable Management – Successful Business” where they gave an interactive and practical overview of this very important aspect of everyday business. The topic sparked the interest of micro, small and medium business owners and managers across the country, who were eager to learn more about an area crucial for the vitality of their businesses. The webinar was held as part of the „SDGs for All“ platform, which aims to strengthen the knowledge and capacities of micro, small and medium enterprises in the […]
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It looks like ESG is taking another interesting turn in the corporate world. Topics like ESG reporting are already standard, and governments worldwide are working hard on ESG reporting rules. Companies have recognized how important it is for their businesses to wear a shiny green badge, so international companies are competing in how to best demonstrate their green agendas. There is, however, a new initiative that gives rise to the development of “green management”. Companies are increasingly linking the compensation packages of their executives to their performance on ESG principles. In short, large multinationals are now including ESG criteria in […]
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The Committee on the Environment, Public Health, and Food Safety (“ENVI”) decided on Wednesday to accelerate the shift to electric vehicles in Europe to reach increased climate ambitions. In July 2021, as part of the ‘’Fit for 55’’ package, the European Commission (‘’Commission’’) decided to propose an amendment to the Regulation 2019/631 to strengthen the CO2 emission performance standards for new passenger cars and new light commercial vehicles in line with the Union’s increased climate ambition. Currently, carmakers need to ensure that their average fleet of new cars emits no more than 95 grams of C02 a kilometer. Lawmakers have […]
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