In times of crisis, cryptocurrencies found new roles in financial markets. We witness different forms in which cryptocurrencies are used to transfer value when the regular financial flows fail (or are just too laggy). It seems crypto is here to stay and governments are taking stock and developing plans. This March, US President Joe Biden was determined to find a regulatory solution for crypto by kickstarting the legislative machine of the US with the Executive Order on Ensuring Responsible Development of Digital Assets (“EO”). The EO recognizes the explosive growth of digital assets as an opportunity to reinforce American leadership […]
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Bogdan Gecić, Founding Partner at Gecić Law, was quoted in Forbes, the leading global business publication, in an article titled “10 Entrepreneurs Share The Most Important Early Business Decisions They Made”. Bogdan was asked to join a panel of experts and share his perspective on some of his most important early decisions as an eminent entrepreneur in the legal and professional services industry. “It was essential to select and start delivering on a set of core values in the very early stages of the development of the firm. Values are an authentic expression of what your firm is all about […]
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The Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU“) delivered two judgments on 22 March 2022. By those judgments, the CJEU ruled on the scope of the protection afforded by the prohibition of ne bis in idem principle in competition law. The CJEU recalled in both cases that the application of the ne bis in idem principle is subject to a twofold condition. First, there must be a prior final decision and secondly, the prior decision and the subsequent proceedings must concern the same facts. The CJEU clarified that the limitations may be imposed on the exercise of a fundamental right, such as the prohibition against double […]
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As the focus on environmental, social, and governance considerations is becoming increasingly essential, and billions of dollars are invested in sustainable projects, the leading global rating agencies have incorporated these factors into their methodologies. Due to greater sensitivity to these topics and increasing client demand, as investors now must have a clear view of ESG aspects of potential investments, credit rating agencies have found distinct methods of assessing the impact in the past several years. They have since gradually expanded the scope and scale of their analysis in this area to include a broader array of sectors and entities. To […]
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Football fans around the world know which football clubs are in the top divisions in their respective leagues but do they know which football clubs are in the Environment, Social, Governance (‘’ESG’’) top division? ESG has become increasingly important for every industry in the world, so it comes as no surprise that ‘’the most important secondary thing in the world’’ is also largely influenced by ESG. Clubs have adopted ESG strategies in their businesses to show their commitment to sustainability within their communities. Football clubs have large profits. Meanwhile, ESG is financial in its essence. The concept underlines that responsible […]
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’’Good corporate governance, it’s about being proper and prosper.” Toba Beta Environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors are increasingly being used by investors looking to assess the sustainability and risk profile of companies. Governments worldwide are taking part in this ESG focus, with new legislation being introduced to build the foundations and provide a legal basis to ESG. We have already written about the importance of ESG when assessing the market performance of a company which is supported by a growing number of research and data analyses. In previous articles, we have covered the “E” and “S”, with the letter […]
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On June 1st 2021, the new Gender Equality Act (the “Act”) entered into force and Serbia finally has a modern act to address this issue. The Act regulates the concept, meaning and policy measures for achieving and promoting gender equality, as well as measures for combating and preventing all forms of gender-based violence, violence against women and domestic violence. We emphasize that discrimination based on sex and gender was prohibited even before the entry into force of this Act. The Act confirms the current principles of equality of employees in employment rights and the prohibition of discriminatory behaviour of employers, […]
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The US Federal Reserve published a document titled Money and Payments: The U.S. Dollar in the Age of Digital Transformation (“Paper”) in January. The Paper points out the pros and cons of creating the digital dollar in the form of a CBDC (Central Bank Digital Currency), to determine whether it could improve the US payment system. As we explained in earlier texts on this subject, CBDCs are virtual records of existing fiat currencies. They represent the complete equivalents of currencies such as the euro, dollar, dinar, etc. The Paper points out that the digital dollar would be a liability of […]
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In late 2021, the Romanian Constitutional Court issued a statement regarding the judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union (”Judgment”) in Cases C-357/19 Euro Box Promotion and Others, C379/19 DNA – Oradea Territorial Service, C-547/19 “Romanian Judges Forum”, C-811/19 FQ and others and C-840/19 NC. The Judgment established that national judges are entitled to disregard the decisions of the Romanian Constitutional Court that are not aligned with the EU law without any risk of disciplinary measures. Moreover, it addressed the Romanian justice reforms and pointed out the mandatory character of the EU’s recommendations, embedded in the Cooperation and […]
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Montenegro, the jewel of the Adriatic Sea and first in line to become the next European Union (EU) member state, has extended its program of granting citizenship by investment until the end of 2022. The benefits of such a program for investors are manifold – the opportunity to become a citizen of a beautiful European country that is experiencing one of the highest investment per capita in the Old Continent but also the chance to become a citizen of the EU once the country becomes EU member state. On 22 November 2018, the Government of Montenegro adopted the Decision on […]
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