Doing Business

10 Oct 2018

Corporate Stamps Are History

A year ago, we wrote that the use of corporate stamps during payment services was abolished. Now, this process has come to an end. Although the Corporate Act of Serbia from 2012 explicitly states that companies are not obliged to use their corporate stamps when conducting their day-to-day business operations, the practical application of this rule had not yet been enforced. Difficulties occurred primarily in dealing with the banking sector, as commercial banks continued to demand from their clients the use of corporate stamps in order to verify payment orders and other relevant documents. Such practice terminated exactly one year ago, on […]

Details
28 Sep 2017

Cross Border M&As to Be Explicitly Regulated – Looking Towards the Amendments to the Companies Act

The public debate on the Draft of Amendments of the Companies Act, suggested and prepared by the Ministry of Economy in April, will take place in Belgrade on 4th October 2017. As part of the drafting procedure, the Ministry tried to identify and address business sector`s concerns regarding the Companies Act and identify areas where amendments to current regulatory framework might be needed.  In order to facilitate the above-mentioned, the working group also included representatives of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia, with more than 60% of the comments submitted by the companies to the Ministry, being adopted. […]

Details
21 Sep 2017

Corporate Stamps No Longer Needed in Banks as of October 1

The National Bank of Serbia adopted alterations and amendments to seven by-laws in the field of payment operations, thus resolving the dilemma regarding the liability of companies to use their corporate stamp when using payment services. The rule that companies are not obliged to use stamps in their business letters and other documents (unless otherwise prescribed by law), was explicitly set with the Companies Act, that became applicable in 2012. Even with the Payment Services Act, which applies since October of 2015 and which, in accordance with relevant EU directives provides that legal entities and entrepreneurs are not liable to […]

Details
04 May 2017

Collaboration Without Notification? Certain Joint Ventures out of the Scope of EC Merger Regulation, Says CJEU Advocate General

On April 27, 2017, Advocate General of the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”),  Ms. Juliane Kokott, issued an opinion stating that not every creation of joint ventures ought to be under control of the European authorities: only formation of those joint ventures which are to be entirely autonomous, full-function entities should be subject to the official scrutiny. As per words of the opinion’s respected author, said issue, although technical in essence, holds a “practical significance” for national and European watchdogs on the one hand, and market undertakings, on the other, given that it tackles the matter of interpretation […]

Details
17 Feb 2016

Regional Subsidies Race to the Bottom Intensifies?

A race to the bottom is a socio-economic phrase used to describe a situation in which countries or companies try to compete in order to attract and retain economic activity and the latest data from the Center for Economic Analysis (CEA) in Macedonia suggests that the country is pushing the envelope on its regional counterparts.  CEA recently published that seven companies doing business within Macedonian technological industrial development zones have have been granted a total of 56 million euros in state aid.  In certain cases, the state aid granted amounted up to 47% of overall value of the investment.  Vesna Garvanlieva, CEA […]

Details
09 Dec 2015

Gecić Law Contributes Serbian Chapter to Legal Aspects of Doing Business in Europe – Second Edition

We are pleased to announce that our partner Bogdan Gecić together with Dr. Tatjana Jovanić, an associate professor at the University of Belgrade Faculty of Law, co-authored the Serbian chapter for Legal Aspects of Doing Business in Europe – Second Edition.  The chapter provides a comprehensive overview of most important legal aspects for both domestic and foreign investors and businesses in Serbia.  The chapter provides an in-depth analysis of the following topics: Enterprises: Establishment, Acquisition & Bankruptcy Customs Regulation Investment Incentives and Currency Regulation Competition and Market Regulation Intellectual Property Employment Banking The edition is published by Juris Publishing, Inc., a full-service […]

Details