Fiduciary Duties (Péče řádného hospodáře) in Commercial Law
May 28, 2009 AmCham offices
Bohumil Havel of Law Faculty, University of Western Bohemia and Petr Kuhn of White&Case will talk about the principle of fiduciary duties and its interpretation in theory, practice and the Supreme Court decisions. The seminar is held in Czech language without translation. The principle of fiduciary duties (in Czech péče řádného hospodáře) is an important principle for claiming compensation of damages. Only that member of a statutory body, who is not acting de lege artis when managing en enterprise in an unsound manner, can be held liable for damages. Notwithstanding that, the principle has not yet been duly defined in the Czech Republic, not even in the judicature of the Supreme Court. Surprisingly, Czech penal law pays more attention, than civil law. The seminar will be focused not only on outlining the content of the term (and its delimitation towards other types of acting – expert, due etc.) and the relevant judicature, but will also deal with many practical situations in which an agent or a board member and the like can fall within fiduciary duties (for example, conclusion of contracts, disposing of an enterprise, acting as a proxy, acting in a concern or in an insolvency proceedings).
Labor Code Committee - Draft Amendment to the Labor Code
April 21, 2009 AmCham Offices
The long awaited draft amendment to the Labor Code has been finalized at the Ministry of Labor and sent out to central state bodies and other partnering organizations for comments. AmCham is one of the partners, too. I am attaching the draft amendment and would like to ask you to send me your comments in Czech language by April 17. To discuss the gathered comments and formulate final positions, we would like to invite all who will have provided comments to a discussion session that will be held at the AmCham offices in Dušní 10 on April 21, 2 – 5 pm. We hope to receive comments and discuss also with representatives of other foreign chambers. For your information, I am enclosing also the AmCham’s general Position Paper on the changes needed to the current Labor Code. The Paper does not react directly to the draft, it reflects the AmCham’s long-term views on the Labor Code. With any questions, please contact Iveta Havlová at ihavlova@amcham.cz or 602 736 797.
Arbitration Proceedings - Why, What and Where
April 16, 2009 AmCham Offices, Dušní 10, Prague 1
The aim of this seminar is to explain the advantages of arbitration vis-a-vis the ordinary court proceedings. Also, to present on important arbitration rules and practices, compare various European arbitration venues (Paris, Vienna, Zurich, Prague...) and give advice on what to look for when choosing the venue. A part of the lecture will also be devoted to arbitration of cross-border disputes related to Internet. The speakers are: - Vít Horáček, GLATZOVA & Co., v.o.s., an internationally serving arbiter and a member of the chairmanship of the Arbitration Court attached to the Economic Chamber and Agricultural Chamber of the Czech Republic; - Zbyněk Loebl, an arbiter focusing on disputes related to Internet; - Philip Smitka, NÖRR STIEFENHOFER LUTZ v. o. s., an attorney representing parties in arbitration cases across Europe
GM Breakfast with Intel - Public policy in a global corporation: the case of the stimulus packages
April 15, 2009 Hilton Prague hotel, Pobřežní 1, Praha 8.
As a global corporation, Intel has been investing heavily in public policy around the world. As Intel’s Vice President of Global Public Policy, Mr. Don Whiteside has been a strong advocate of Intel’s public policy efforts. The stimulus packages that are currently being debated and implemented over the world are an example of where public policy is at the centre of a company’s business interests. During this breakfast, Mr. Whiteside will outline why Intel is investing in public policy, using the case of US and EU stimulus packages. Hosted by Intel Czech Tradings, Inc., organizační složka For invited general managers/CEOs, owners and partners of the companies ONLY. For registration contact Andrej Kandráč at akandrac@amcham.cz .
Roundtable on Insolvency Act with its Drafters - CAPACITY FULL!!! - CHANGE OF LOCATION
April 14, 2009 Hilton Prague Old Town, V Celnici 7, Prague 1
The government has just approved a small amendment to the Insolvency Act, another is already being prepared by a permanent insolvency working group at the Ministry of Justice. The roundtable featuring Jiří Bureš, a vice-chairman of the High Court in Prague, Bohumil Havel of West Bohemia University and Petr Kuhn of White & Case (all co-authors of the Insolvency Act and members of the aforementioned working group) will try to sum up the so far experience with the new act and come up with ideas for the amendment. Please see attached the already gathered comments from AmCham members. The event is held in Czech language. With questions or comments, please contact Iveta Havlová at ihavlova@amcham.cz or 602 736 797.
February 18, 2009 AmCham Offices
AmCham Tax Committee will meet to discuss the following agenda: - finalize our positions on draft new Tax Procedure Code (at present in the Parliament, print 685), - amendment to the Draft in the context of recent decisions of the Constitutional Court (I.ÚS 1611/07 and I.ÚS 1835/07), - preparation of legislative wording of the amendment and further steps, - loss carry-backs amendment to ITA, - other suggestions. Event will be held in Czech except loss carry-backs part. Your input will be appreciated. To join the initiative register for the event or contact Andrej Kandráč at akandrac@amcham.cz or 602 790 012.
Roundtable with Finance Ministry on Joint Collection Authority (Jednotné inkasní místo)
February 10, 2009 AmCham offices, Dušní 10, Prague 1
The Amcham’s involvement in ongoing Tax Reform 2010 continues. The third pillar of the reform Joint Collection Authority is broadly consulted by the Finance Ministry also on the European level. Is the launch date 2014 still realistic? Recent developments, pros and cons of the project will be discussed with director of the project Mr. Zdeněk Tesař from the Ministry of Finance.
January 28, 2009 Hotel Palace - Panská 12, Praha 1, 14:00
The aim of this joint briefing is to present a project “The Best Regulator” initiated by AmCham and approved by the three regulators. The regulators have undertaken to further improve the efficiency, consistency and transparency of their work based on a set of criteria drawn up jointly by AmCham members and regulators’ officers. The progress made will be assessed annually by appointed independent experts (in the first year of the project, the evaluation will be done internally by each regulator) and results published. The briefing will be followed by a small cocktail. The event is held in Czech without translation into English. The Chamber is planning to stay in touch with the three regulators throughout the year and provide feedback & suggestions for measures to be taken. Also, the project is to be spread to cover more sector regulators in the near future. With any questions, please contact Iveta Havlová at ihavlova@amcham.cz or 602 736 797.
November 07, 2008 AmCham offices, Dušní 10, Prague 1
The current dualistic approach to judicial review of decisions made by public administration bodies (organy verejne spravy) is not a good one and causes many problems, not only to parties to proceedings, but also to administrative and civil courts. The problems stem from an unclear bordering line between a public law case and a private law case and very ambiguous interpretations in the practice. A case often goes through all instances before it is declared that the subject matter of the dispute falls under the other branch of the administrative judiciary (spravni soudnictvi). This is hardly acceptable vis-a-vis the principle of legal certainty. Karel Šimka, a judge of the Supreme Administrative Court, has been charged by the Chairman of the Court to discuss this issue with AmCham members. We also hope to be able to suggest some advocacy steps to improve the current system.
Discussion on proposed Public Procurement Act Amendment with the Ministry for Regional Development
November 04, 2008 AmCham offices, Dušní 10, Praha 1
After our first discussion with the Ministry on general principles of the proposed substantial amendment to Public Procurement Act in April this year, AmCham members have the opportunity to sit together again and discuss its paragraphed version. The Amendment aims, among the other goals, to satisfy our obligations given by EU legislation and to enhance transparency and procedure simplicity. We would like to ask you to review the attached material and send us your comments in writing to Andrej Kandrac at akandrac@amcham.cz by November 3.
Labor Code Committee to finalize position document on draft Labor Code Amendment
October 24, 2008 AmCham, Dušní 10, Praha 1
The goal of the session is to finalize our position document before the end of public consultation on the draft Labor Code Amendment (October 28) launched by the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs. For more information, please contact Iveta Havlová at ihavlova@amcham.cz or 602 736 797. You can register online from our website www.amcham.cz by using your company’s login data.
Roundtable on the new draft Commercial Code with its author Bohumil Havel
October 23, 2008 AmCham offices, Dušní 10, Praha 1
A month after the commentary round on the new draft Civil Code ended, the Ministry of Justice has put forward for comments also the new draft Commercial Code. Please see the final version of the Commercial Code, as sent out into a public commentary round attached. The commenting period ends on October 31. The aim of the roundtable is to discuss possible comments with the drafter of the bill thus reinforcing the probability the comments are well understood and included in the bill. Therefore, we would like to ask you to send your comments in writing to Andrej Kandrac at akandrac@amcham.cz by October 21, so that we can provide them to JUDr. Havel before the event.
October 08, 2008 AmCham, Dušní 10, Praha 1
Following the serie of discussions on the new Income Tax Act Consultation Document with Deputy Finance Minister Mr. Peter Chrenko, AmCham has been approached and requested for closer cooperation on the following specific issues: tax pooling, financial leasing, improvement of effective § 24 (2) ITA, exit tax and participation exemption. The Committee is called to coordinate our further engagement in preparatory works and provide the Ministry with proposals until the end of October. To join task force, register for the event or contact Andrej Kandráč at akandrac@amcham.cz or 602 790 012.
Labor Code Committee to Finalize Comments on the draft Amendment to the Labor Code
September 30, 2008 AmCham
The participants will 1) identify the main AmCham priorities towards the amendment to the Labor Code, now being finalized by Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs (please see a draft list of priorities attached), and 2) go through the AmCham comprehensive position document to complete it for the upcoming advocacy stage (also attached). For more information please contact Andrej Kandráč at akandrac@amcham.cz.
September 29, 2008 AmCham offices
Following the June roundtable on the first version of general principles (vecny zamer), the upcoming session will be a debate on the final version of the general principles that is about to be sent out into the official commentary round. The text of the draft (including three analyzes of various specific issues) is attached. We attach also the AmCham position paper to the June version of the general principles. For more information, please contact Iveta Havlová at ihavlova@amcham.cz.
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