K&L Gates LLP (JD Supra Poland)

An act on financial support for audiovisual production was published in the Journal of Laws on 10 January 2019, which marks the final stage of the legislative process. The Polish Film Institute (PISF) will soon provide financial support for the production of audiovisual works created in Poland.

The Minister of Justice in his speech regarding the “great reform of civil proceedings” announced among other things, a reduction or even liquidation of court fees in certain types of civil proceedings.

The legislation imposing an obligation to implement additional pension plans for employees (called Employee Capital Plans; Polish acronym: PPK) entered on January 1, 2019. It requires that the employers select a financial institution which will manage the PPK. The employer decides about selection of the financial institution together with employees’ representatives.

In recent months, a number of judgments have been passed that change the previous line of case law and which grant contractors the opportunity to demand a judicial remuneration adjustment in the event of an extraordinary change of circumstances regarding the increase in prices of building materials and production costs.

The Act of 11 January 2018 on Electromobility and Alternative Fuels enters into force on 22 February this year. It establishes a system of incentives for the promotion of the use of vehicles powered by alternative fuels, mainly electricity, and also introduces mechanisms for initiating investments in the necessary infrastructure.

The bilateral treaty between the Republic of Poland and the Republic of Italy on the promotion and protection of investments signed in Warsaw on 10 May 1989 (the “Polish-Italian BIT”) expired on 9 January 2013. However, Italian investors who made their investments in Poland or Polish investors who invested in Italy before 9 January 2013 may still benefit from the protection of this treaty until 9

On 28 June 2017, an official bill amending the Renewable Energy Sources Act and certain other acts (including the Act on Wind Farm Investments), was published on the website of the Government Centre for Legislation. One of the material amendments provided by the draft regards the rules of real property taxation of wind power plants.

Last week (on June 5, 2017) the President of Poland signed the Act on actions for damages for infringements of competition law (the “Act”). The Act will enter into force 14 days from its announcement in the Journal of Laws (i.e. on June 27, 2017). The Act constitutes a transposition of Directive 2014/104/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 November 2014.

On May 26, 2017, the Ministry of Finance submitted a new draft act on real estate investment trusts dated May 19, 2017 (“Draft”). Pursuant to art. 1 section 1 of the Draft, REIT shall include joint stock companies: - having their registered office or management in the Republic of Poland, whose shares have been admitted to public listing in the Republic of Poland and - whose main...

Changes have been introduced in the system of fees for the submission and protection of trademarks and industrial designs with the Polish Patent Office (“PPO”). An amendment of the Regulation of the Council of Ministers on fees relating to the protection of inventions, utility designs, industrial designs, trademarks, geographic designations and topographies of integrated circuits was published...

A parliamentary bill has been submitted with the Sejm, repealing an obligation to submit a tender offer in connection with the acquisition of shares giving the right to 10% of the total number of votes at the General Meeting of a public company or a smaller amount of shares, in respect of a shareholder holding more than 33% of shares. On January 10, 2017, a group of MPs from Law and Justice...

As part of the Strategy for Responsible Development - Capital Building Program, one of the directions of the changes being considered by the Ministry of Development ("Ministry") is the total scrapping of Open Pension Funds ("OPF"), under whose control fall assets of 134.9 billion zl (according to data from the end of June 2016). Assumptions regarding changes related to the liquidation of OPF...

On July 20, the Polish government adopted a draft amendment to the Polish Gambling Act (“Draft Amendment”). The Draft Amendment was notified to the European Commission and until October 31, 2016, awaits comments and consultations. The government has said that it expects that the amendment will minimize the grey market in gambling; assure better protection of players against negative consequences...

At the same time, the legislator decreed that this new wealth tax will not affect the terms and conditions governing the rendering of financial and insurance services under contracts concluded prior to 1 February 2016.

On April 14, 2015 the Polish Constitutional Tribunal has analyzed the constitutional status of bank enforcement titles (“BETs”). The idea behind BETs is quite simple – create a shortcut for banks to accelerate the debt collection process by skipping court proceedings for payment.

On February 2, 2015, the President of the Republic of Poland signed a new law on bonds, which will come into force on July 1, 2015, replacing the Bond Act of June 29, 1995. The purpose of the new law is to replace the existing regulations, which in practice did not take into account the real needs of the market and the dynamic changes in the capital markets.

Commercial banks in Poland fell under detailed scrutiny of Polish antitrust authority after some of them refused to cut interest rates on mortgage loans in Swiss francs, despite the currency’s rapid appreciation. Seeking to ease the burden on borrowers hit by the franc’s strength, last week the Polish antitrust authority decided to launch a probe to determine whether the banks’ refusal to cut...

On May 7, 2014, the Polish Parliament debated the next version of the bill to amend the Act on Mining and Geological Law of April 23, 2014 (the “Bill”). The Bill introduces new approaches with respect to the exploration and production of hydrocarbons, both conventional and unconventional, and hence is of particular importance for the shale gas industry.

The Minister of Finance has prepared a draft amendment to the Banking law. The amendment is intended to implement the CRD IV (Directive 2013/36/EU of June 26, 2013) and CRR Regulation (Regulation No 575/2013 of June 26, 2013). In line with the draft there will be significant changes to regulations regarding, inter alia, remuneration policies, rules of nomination of members to the...

On April 24, 2014 the Supreme Court issued a decision resolving an unsettled issue with respect to the representation of a limited liability company: whether the grant of a power of attorney by the management board of a limited liability company organized under the laws of Poland to a management board member (allowed by the company’s articles of association to represent the company jointly with...

On 19 February 2014, the second reading of the draft law on competition and consumers protection in the Polish Parliament was completed. The current shape of the proposed provisions does not essentially differ from the primary draft prepared by the Polish Antitrust Authority. It seems that the main objectives of the draft law will be implemented, in particular, and for the first time under Polish

For years now, Poland has been experiencing a vibrant and well functioning market for NPLs portfolio transactions with a sizeable share of consumer loans and some presence of SME loans. While this has not been the case of single-names, the situation is likely to change in the course of 2014 with more Polish banks willing to clean up their balance sheets at an earlier stage.

An amendment to the Labor Code, which will come into force on 23 August 2013, introduces new rules regarding "settlement periods" and working time schedules.

Regulations in Poland relating to entities providing services electronically (meaning practically all entities running Internet websites) have been amended. These changes derive from the new provisions of the EU law, in particular Directive 2002/58/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning the processing of personal data and the protection of privacy in the electronic...