Everyday life in the 21st century is awash with change, change mostly dictated by modern technologies and their constant evolution. Mobile payment apps are the latest (and most innovative) addition to the stable of convenience services, allowing users to pay quickly and securely. The COVID-19 pandemic has pressed home the advantages of paying through mobile phone apps, considering that this method of payment minimizes physical contact between merchants and customers, Apple Pay, a mobile payment application, was launched in Serbia at the end of June 2020. We spoke with Nikola Mehandžić, Business Development Director for the Western Balkans at MasterCard, […]
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Natural persons and companies in Serbia have a large number of disputes, covering all areas of business and legal life, including disputes over intellectual property rights. Resolution of these disputes is usually sought in court, however, there are also alternative solutions. As an alternative dispute resolution mechanism, arbitration could resolve disputes more quickly, in a more efficient way, and at a lower cost, compared to a resolution sought in courts. Prompt resolution of disputes before the arbitration is possible thanks to electronic correspondence, strict deadlines, and the limited number of hearings through which a resolution can be achieved so that […]
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Money laundering – a crime that is not victimless In a globalized world where modern technology allows the rapid flow of funds, fighting money laundering has never been a more important and urgent need. Trillions of dollars are laundered each year and these funds fuel serious organized crime activities such as drug trade, sexual exploitation, human trafficking, terrorism, etc. Money laundering is far from a victimless crime, and, moreover, it harms society in a more perfidious manner than other crimes. The Financial Action Task Force (“FATF”) is the leading global money laundering and terrorist financing “watchdog”. As a policy-making body, […]
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On July 29, 2020, the Slovenian Supreme Court (“Court“) reached a decision by which it ordered that the Slovenian Competition Protection Agency (“AVK“) shall restore the Croatian Agrokor d.d.’s shares in the Slovenian retailer Mercator. In its press release, the AVK stated that the decision by which it ordered the withdrawal of shares held by Agrokor was rendered in accordance with Article 201 of the Slovenian Misdemeanor Act (Zakon o prekrških) in 2019. Article 201 enshrines that anyone’s property may be confiscated in cases there is likelihood of the perpetrator hiding or fleeing the country during the procedure before the […]
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We are proud to announce that Gecić Law’s website was placed as the top-ranked European law firm website in the global list of top 20 law firm websites. This prestigious ranking puts us side by side with the world-class law firm Quinn Emanuel among others. The list was published by Intechnic, a Chicago-based, world-leading user experience (UX) and web design agency, with over 20 years of expertise in this field. Dejan Baralić, the CEO of SmartWeb, the developer of the Gecić Law’s website, remarked that this project has a “special place” in their portfolio. SmartWeb’s team outperformed itself by creating […]
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The prestigious magazine The Lawyer featured a story about the experiences of Gecić Law’s team during the pandemic. The article is part of their “Virus Diaries” series which covers experiences of big law firms across the globe in their struggle to keep their business afloat, clients satisfied and their communities and staff safe in these unusual circumstances. After providing background on Serbia’s Corporate Law market, remarking that it is “still in its early years“ but that many millennials in senior positions are quickly bringing it in line with global standards, the article covered various innovative ways in which Gecić […]
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For some reason May is THE month for competition. Mays of yesteryear have witnessed many intriguing courtroom battles: May 2016, May 2019 and finally in May 2020. True to form, merger control is making the headlines again. The General Court (GC) annulled the European Commission’s (Commission) decision in Hutchison 3G UK (Hutchison) and Telefónica UK (Telefónica) merger on May 28, 2020. If you have not seen it yet, the underlying reason behind the annulment is quite thought-provoking: in a nutshell, the GC held that the Commission made errors in law and manifested errors of assessment, and to boot, infringed essential […]
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General Court brings the curtain down on epic court battle between Apple Ireland and the EU/European Commission in a state aid case labelled the ‘Apple Tax case’. On July 15, 2020, the EU’s General Court overturned the Commission’s decision because the Commission failed to prove Apple had broken competition rules. Following an in-depth state aid investigation launched in June 2014, the Commission requested information on any rulings granted by Ireland in favour of the Apple Group companies: Apple Operations International (AOI), Apple Sales International (ASI) and Apple Operations Europe (AOE). The Commission concluded that two tax rulings issued by Ireland to […]
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Gecić Law is delighted to announce that TerraLex Cross-Border Guides are finally out! It is our great pleasure to be part of such a standout project year after year, alongside other world-class law firms and distinguished TerraLex members, in our joined mission to help create tailored guides on legislation across jurisdictions. In 2020, our Senior Counsel and Head of Corporate / M&A practice Ognjen Colić with contributions from the rest of the team, provided comprehensive and thorough guidance through regulatory framework and development for 5 different industries in Serbia: M&A Mining Labor and Employment Crisis Management Cannabis (soon to be published) […]
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Serbia – a leader in the Western Balkans Nowadays, we face numerous global challenges such as the extinction of flora and fauna, endangering of ecosystems, the continuous growth of waste, pollution and scarcity of natural resources as effects of climate changes and pollution. Radical changes are more urgent than ever and Serbia is now embarking on the course to implement them. The Ministry of Environmental Protection with the support of the UNDP project “Circular Economy Platform for Sustainable Development in Serbia”, developed a document entitled Roadmap for circular economy(“Roadmap”). The Roadmap is modeled on the type of existing documents in […]
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