In this issue:

HUNGARY

Banking & Finance

• New legislation framework in the Hungarian financial sector
• Legislation as to foreign exchange loans

POLAND

Recent Legislative Reforms

• Real Estate / Banking: Reverse mortgage law - the introduction of this new financial instrument to Polish law
• Consumer Law: Increased consumer protection
• Tax Law: Modification of the tax handling of intra-group borrowing interests (under-capitalisation) and implementation of the CFC rules
• Banking Law:  New law on the issuance of corporate bonds
• Procedure: Enforceability of court rulings etc. handed down in other EU member states
• Labour Law:  Social Security contributions
• Courts Service:  Modifications regarding the registration of companies' economic activity
• Environmental Law:  Responsibility and soil contamination

RUSSIA

• Tax: Federal law on de-offshorisation
• Labour Law:  Key changes to Russian labour legislation and migration legislation

TURKEY

• E-commerce:  Turkey's law on e-commerce
• Projects / Environmental Law: New environmental impact assessment regulation: essential information for all new projects

UKRAINE
International Trade: Introduction of extra customs duties: the WTO-consistency issue
Tax Reform: General rules | VAT | Corporate profit tax | Transfer pricing

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EDITORIAL | Hugues Moreau, partner

The Polish dynamic shows no signs of slowing down

The appointment of Donald Tusk to the Presidency of the European Council, at the end of 2014, was confirmation of Poland’s leading role within the European Union. A member of the Union since 2004, Poland is the first country of Eastern Europe to reach such a high level of political representation, a recognition of the country’s economic successes. One of the few countries not to have been affected by the recession in 2009, Poland posted average annual growth figures of around 4.4% over the 2004-2014 period. As another indicator of the country’s stability, its volatility in terms of growth and inflation is among the lowest in Central and Western Europe. Poland’s dynamic economy is also boosting employment in the country: although unemployment rates reached 11.4% in October 2014 (8.4% according to the EU’s definition), it is nonetheless 1.8 points lower than in 2013.

An essential player in European growth, Poland is highly attractive to foreign investors. This situation can be explained in part by its ambitious, enterprising and well-trained population, the diversity of its economic activities (industrial and agricultural production, services and distribution), the macroeconomic stability of the country which enables long-term investments, and the importance of ongoing and future structural investments.

This last aspect is strongly supported by the EU’s cohesion policy, which will spend up to EUR 82.5 billion of structural funds on Poland in the 2014-2020 period, i.e. the largest allowance of all the 28 member states.

Such dynamism shines through in the uninterrupted modernisation of the Polish legal and taxation system, as illustrated by the regulatory and legislative reforms set out below.