Month: June 2019

Starting from next week, the issue of bonds in the so-called in closed mode will be subject to additional conditions. Changes introduced are the aftermath of the so-called ‘GetBack scandal’ and are supposed to prevent further abuses of this kind.

– From 1 July 2019, the issue of bonds will involve the need of meeting additional formal requirements. They consist in particular in excluding the possibility of issuing bonds in the form of a document. The bonds will be registered at Krajowy Depozyt Papierów Wartościowych S.A. (the National Depository for Securities – NDS). In the case of bonds that will not be issued through public offering, before the conclusion of a contract providing for registration of these securities in NDS, the issuer will be required to conclude a contract for performance of the issue agent's functions. An investment company authorized to keep securities accounts or a trust bank will be the other party to such a contract (an issue agent). The change in the regulations will result in an increase in costs of the issue of bonds as compared to nowadays. But it is not that much certain whether this will eliminate the risk of possible frauds. – writes Marcin Borkowski, PhD, attorney-at-law.

The article by Marcin Borkowski describing these changes and consequences thereof can be found at the Lexplorers blog: http://lexplorers.pl/wazne-zmiany-dotyczace-obligacji/ 

On 27 and 28 June, Aldona Leszczyńska Mikulska will be a speaker at the STEP (Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners) international conference, which will take place in Limassol, Cyprus. STEP is a prestigious organization gathering the most experienced advisors from around the world who deal with financial planning, family businesses and succession in business.

Aldona will present the specificity of the Polish Central Register of Beneficiaries (Centralny Rejestr Beneficjentów Rzeczywistych) to the participants of the conference, which will soon become a reality as part of the implementation of the European directive on counteracting money laundering and financing of terrorism. Interview with Aldona can be read at: https://www.step.org/interviews/60-second-interview-aldona-leszczy-ska-mikulska 

Nearly 70 lawyers from 27 jurisdictions have gathered in Warsaw as part of the annual, two-day spring conference of the Trans European Law Firm Alliance – a European network of independent law firms – to explore and discuss issues in the area of ​​compliance and artificial intelligence used in lawyers’ work.

Speaker in the debate on artificial intelligence used in the work of lawyers, Marcin Zręda, Strategic Director of the Legal Services Market and Enterprises inWolters Kluwer, made a short summary of the second day of the conference:

Issued touched upon on the second day of the conference concerned the use of artificial intelligence in compliance management. Marcin Zręda, Strategic Director of the Legal Services and Enterprises Market in Wolters Kluwer Polska, was one of the panel participants. He pointed to a great need for transparency in compliance management in companies.

– In the debate, we put at least a few open questions, for which there are still no good answers today and therefore they are worth discussing. We wondered to what extent the artificial intelligence is just a slogan that causes a faster heartbeat for a potential investor and by how much it will be an actuall element of the lawyer's work environment in just a moment – explains Zręda. He adds that according to recent studies only 60 percent of start-ups in the European Union declaring themselves to be using artificial intelligence actually do. – Once again, we tried to bust the myth of replacing a lawyer by a robot – here, a fragment of the discussion covered the concept of bias of artificial intelligence, to what extent is it threatening, if and how we can minimize it. The last of the interesting topics discussed during the panel was the so-called blackbox problem; what if we want to learn about the ‘thinking’ of a machine, which has made a specific decision, whether we can look ‘under its hood’ and understand something – says Zręda.

The article is available at: https://www.prawo.pl/prawnicy-sady/compliance-w-firmach-konferencja-telfa-warszawa-2019,435683.html

The European Union is preparing a revolution in respect of reducing plastic disposable products. What should producers of disposable plastic products be prepared for? What can consumers expect?

– Although the EU directive aimed at limiting the use of plastic ‘disposables’ is still at the design stage, its adoption is rather certain. The key issue will be the transposition of its provisions into national laws. The scope of obligations and the circle of obliged entities will in fact depend on the shape of solutions adopted in this group of regulations.

The article was published on the Lexplorers.pl blog on 4 Juhne 2019.

Link to the article: http://lexplorers.pl/plastikowa-rewolucja-czy-producenci-jednorazowych-wyrobow-z-plastiku-maja-sie-czego-obawiac/

On 1 January 2019, a number of changes to laws on the general anti-avoidance regulation (hereinafter referred to as GAAR) entered into force. One of them involves the change of the application model of the general anti-avoidance regulation.

– An important element of the new GAAR application model was the decision on the reversal of tax avoidance effects. It is not a decision that defines or especially that sets the amount of tax liability. As a result of its issuance, taxpayer has the right to correct its tax return. If the taxpayer does not correct the return in accordance with the decision on the reversal of the tax avoidance effects, proceedings will be initiated to determine the amount of the tax liability. In the course of these proceedings, the body in charge will have to take into account the content of the decision on the reversal of the tax avoidance effects .

The article was published on the blog Lexplorers.pl, on 11 June 2019

Link to the article: http://lexplorers.pl/pomieszanie-z-poplataniem-czyli-o-zmianie-modelu-stosowania-ogolnej-klauzuli-przeciwko-unikaniu-opodatkowania/ 

In the latest issue of Forbes Women Joanna Sebzda-Załuska talks about overcoming stereotypes about women, achieving professional successes in the so-called male world, as well as professional support received from men. We invite you to read the article by Magdalena Krukowska "Wojowniczki w męskim świecie” ("Female warriors in male world").

We are proud to announce that the Managing Partner of GWW Legal, Joanna Sebzda-Załuska has become a member of the Council of Fundacja Dorastaj z Nami.

GWW is a founding member of the Foundation, which from the beginning of its activity has been providing support in the field of ongoing legal services. We are happy that we can become more and more active in helping children whose parents have died on duty. More information about the Foundation Dorastaj z Nami available on: https://dorastajznami.org/jak-pomagamy/jak-pomagamy-program/ 

On 13-15 June 2019, we had the pleasure to be the host of the TELFA & USLAW Network Spring Conference. The Conference was organized as part of TELFA independent network of law firms, to which GWW belongs since 2018.

In addition to the regular TELFA conference points, the program included a meeting devoted to problems and challenges for companies in terms of compliance, entitled ‘A modern model of compliance policy – cybersecurity, personal data protection, collective entities' liability, taxes’, in which lectures were given by GWW specialists and invited guests: Ewa Żak-Lisowska (PGE), Sławomir Chmielewski (Orange), dr Jan Tibor Lelley (Buse Heberer Fromm, Germany), and Edward Craft (Wedlake Bell, Great Britain).

The last day of the conference was devoted to discussing the issues of Legal Tech, where during the lecture by Aleksandra Przegalińska, PhD, and the debate with Marcin Zrędy (Wolters Kluwer), Maciej Trocia (IUS.AI), and Sebastian Grzywacz (Antalis Poland, legaldpt.com) we tried to find answers to the most bothering issues related to artificial intelligence, in particular regarding using it in the work of lawyers.

We are glad that the conference aroused so much interest. We would like to thank all participants for coming.

In Puls Biznesu daily, we can find an article on two important judgments of the European Court of Justice regarding the so-called spatial trademarks. These judgments are important because they systematize the concept of obtaining secondary distinctive concept. We invite you to read a text by Michał Tuszyński, attorney and patent attorney trainee.

The article is available at the link: https://www.pb.pl/czy-ksztalt-moze-byc-wlasnoscia-intelektualna-962528

Success in a several-year-lasting dispute regarding the interruption of the tax liability limitation period! 

On 3 June 2019, the Supreme Administrative Court, sitting in a panel of 7 judges, adopted a resolution (II FPS 1/19), in which it stated that in the legal status effective until 31 December 2015, the declaration of bankruptcy did not interrupt the limitation period of the tax liability whose payment date elapsed in the year in which the bankruptcy was declared. The legal issue constituting the subject of the resolution arose from the factual situation in which there was doubt whether the declaration of bankruptcy in August 2007 interrupted the limitation period of the liability for corporate income tax for 2006. According to the Supreme Administrative Court, it is undisputable that the limitation period must run so that it can be interrupted. The essence of the problem boiled down to the question of when the limitation period began to run. Is it when the payment was due or only at the end of the year in which the payment deadline for the tax liability expired? Doubts were raised by Article 70 paragraph 1 of the Tax Code, which does not directly provide when the limitation period begins. In the opinion of the Court, the content of Article 70 paragraph 1 of the Tax Code in connection with the provisions of Article 12 of the Tax Code specifying rules for the calculation of the time limitation can make it clear, through linguistic interpretation, that the limitation period begins at the end of the year in which the tax payment deadline expired. In the circumstances of the case, this means that the tax liability in respect of which the proceedings were pending, became time limited prior to the decision issued in the court of second instance.

We are glad that we had a chance to be a co-author of this success.

Andrzej Ladziński, tax counsel, managing partner or GWW Tax, was a legal representative in this case.