As a general rule, insolvency proceedings fall under the jurisdiction of the national courts in the state where the debtor's head office is registered ("State of Incorporation"). Such jurisdiction is reasonably practical, as most often creditors and the debtor's main assets are located in the State of Incorporation. However, in more complex situations when companies carry out activities outside their State of Incorporation, a European regulation (EC regulation no. 1346/2000) (the Regulation) enacts jurisdiction to open insolvency proceedings for courts in the Member State where debtors' centre of main interests (COMI) is located (COMI State). If insolvency proceedings are initiated in the COMI State, this will determine the governing law and its effects shall be restricted to the assets of the debtor within its territory. Any other insolvency procedure shall be qualified as secondary (insolvency) proceedings....more »

Aegon Societate de Administrare a unui Fond de Pensii Administrat Privat S.A. (AEGON) along with other managing companies of mandatory private pension funds (Pillar II) were sanctioned by the Council of Competition for an alleged allocation of customers. RTPR Allen & Overy, the representatives of AEGON in this situation, managed to obtain in court a reduction with over 80% of the fine imposed. ...more »

Cristina Filip is the new Managing Partner of law firm PeliFilip after Francis Peli has completed his mandate at the helm of the company. This change is the result of elections that take place at partners level every three years on the coo...more »

Following a thorough selection process and validation from existing members, Maravela & Asociaţii has officially become the Romanian jurisdiction exclusive member of the reputed legal network International Business Law Consortium (IBLC). IBLC is an international alliance of select law firms with an impeccable reputation for service-oriented professionalism, having been repeatedly ranked in the first tier (Band 1) by the Leading Law Firm Network section of Chambers Global. ...more »

Miruna Suciu and Luminita Popa, former lawyers at Musat si Asociatii have established Suciu Popa si Asociatii, a full service business law firm made up of five partners and twenty attorneys, with an aim to grow it to 40-50 attorneys.  The founding partners are Miruna Suciu and Luminita Popa, together with Madalina Berechet, Cleopatra Leahu and Dan Ciobanu, Suciu Popa covers practice areas such as Mergers&Acquisitions, Energy&Natural Resources, Banking&Finance, Dispute Resolution, Real Estate and Construction, Competition, Pharma and Intellectual Property. ...more »

Țuca Zbârcea & Asociații assisted McDonald’s in a complex transaction finalised on 22 January 2016 whereby the shares of McDonald’s System of Romania, Inc., a Delaware company which owns its Romanian subsidiary were sold to Premier Capital SRL, a subsidiary of the Maltese company Premier Capital plc. The transaction also included a franchise pursuant to which the former Romanian subsidiary of McDonald’s will continue to operate the restaurants and use the McDonald’s brand, a developmental licensee concept previously implemented by McDonald’s with Premier Capital group of companies in several other countries (Malta, Greece and the Baltic countries).  Premier Capital was assisted in the due diligence activities by Deloitte Romania, while on legal matters the buyers were assisted by a team of lawyers from Musat & Asociatii led by Miruna Suciu, former partner in the firm....more »

Romanian companies are becoming more aware of the significance of compliance, although, in some cases, the reason is not grounded on the belief of doing business ethically, but rather on potentially high cost of non-compliance. In pursuance of their concern to implement proper corporate governance principles, a new trend arises. Internal whistleblowing schemes are generally designed as an additional mechanism for employees to report misconduct internally through a specific channel. It supplements the organization’s regular information and reporting channels, such as employee representatives, line management, quality control personnel (e.g.Compliance Officer) or internal auditors who are empowered precisely to report such misconducts. There is a general perception that whistleblowing is on the rise, for several possible reasons....more »

Text from the 2015 edition of Which Lawyer in Romania legal guide The cloudy days of the economic crisis took the toll on the legal profession with a cut in fees, number of lawyers and business plans. Business law is moving to an era of co...more »

text from the 2015 edition of Which Lawyer in Romania Romania’s macroeconomic figures and potential for growth should translate into real life with an increase in investments. The question whether Romania is only attractive to inv...more »

An updated regulation on the licensing regime in Romania's power sector was recently adopted by ANRE, the national regulatory authority. On 17 March 2015, Order no. 12/2015 on the Regulation for granting licenses and authorizations in the electricity sector ("Order 12"), effective as of publication, was published in the Romanian Official Gazette no. 180/2015 and repeals the former regulation, ie Order no. 48/2013.  ...more »