New Copyright Directive approved by the EU Parliament
On 26 March 2019, a fierce battle took place in the arena of the EU Parliament. Arguments flowing back and forward resulted in a close majority in favour of the supporters of the new Directive (EU) 2019 of the European Parliament and of the Council on copyright and related rights in the Digital Single Market and amending Directives […]
Register of Beneficial Owners – Obligation to identify UBOs
Introduction The Belgian anti-money laundering regulations (the Law of 18 September 2017 and the Royal Decree of 30 July 2018) require all companies, non-profit-making organisation and foundations, as well as trusts, fiduciaries and other similar legal entities managed from Belgium, which are the responsible “information providers”, to obtain and hold adequate, accurate and up to […]
The new Belgian Code of Companies and Associations has been voted
It’s official: the new Belgian Code of companies and associations has been approved yesterday in its final version by the Belgian Parliament. It will be published in the official gazette in the coming weeks and will gradually come into force as from May 1st, 2019. For an insight into the reform, please refer to a recent […]
UBO Register: new deadline extension
The Belgian Minister of Finance announced yesterday that the deadline for the 1st registration in the UBO register had been extended to 30 September 2019 (instead of 31 March). For more information on this topic, please see our previous news authored by Sandrine Hirsch and Jacques Malherbe.
Le droit du procès civil – Colloque et parution du Volume 2
Le colloque « Le droit du procès civil – Etat actuel et analyse des réformes à venir » a attiré plus de 300 participants ce lundi 28 janvier à l’ULB. Les interventions de Fanny Laune et de Marc Baetens-Spetschinsky sont disponibles ici : La déformalisation de l’acte juridictionnel et le régime des nullités par Fanny Laune Incertitude concernant les conditions de recevabilité […]
2019, the year of truth for open banking (RTS – SCA)
Introduction In the world of Payments and FinTech, PSD2 has been a hot topic for several years now. Last year was already a crucial year with the transposition deadline of this directive scheduled for 13 January 2018. This transposition gave rise to significant (and by now very well-known) changes such as the introduction of regulation […]
New Companies and Associations Code – Update January 2019
A number of amendments to the draft law were proposed at the Parliament’s plenary session on 18 December 2018. A new opinion from the Council of State is expected soon. For an outline of the main changes vis-a-vis the existing regulations, you may refer to the slides prepared by Paul Alain Foriers, Partner in our Corporate […]
A step towards a harmonised EU insolvency framework
On 19 December 2018, the Council of the EU and the Parliament reached an agreement on the proposal for a directive on “preventive restructuring frameworks, second chance and measures to increase the efficiency of restructuring, insolvency and discharge procedures”. The main objective of the directive is to enhance the rescue culture across the EU. To do […]
Durable medium: Conceptual and legal harmonisation
Since the late 1990s, the Belgian legislator has been referring to the notion of ‘durable medium’ in order to indicate a bearer of information. The concept of ‘durable medium’ originally stems from European consumer law[1]. However, various definitions as well as different use cases, often in combination with a link to paper, could be found […]
Geo-Blocking Regulation – Applicable as from 3 December 2018
It happens that traders, operating in one EU Member State, block or limit access to their websites and applications by customers from other member states who would like to engage in cross-border transactions (a practice called ‘geo-blocking’). This, together with the practice of traders applying different general conditions of access to their goods and services […]
One more step towards the adoption of the new Companies Code
The competent committee of the Parliament adopted the draft new Code of Companies and Associations on second reading. For an outline of the main changes vis-a-vis the existing regulations, you may refer to the slides prepared by Paul Alain Foriers, Partner in our Corporate M&A department and one of the four legal experts appointed by […]
A new name and a new scope of jurisdiction for Commercial Courts
News available in French or Dutch only. Suite à l’adoption de la loi du 15 avril 2018 portant réforme du droit des entreprises (ci-après « la loi »), certains changements concernant tant la dénomination que les compétences du tribunal de commerce sont entrés en vigueur ce 1er novembre 2018, dont les principaux sont résumés ci-dessous. Le tribunal de […]