Author: Алёна Выдыш

On September 7, at the morning session of the Verkhovna Rada, the Law "On the amendments to the Tax Code of Ukraine regarding the taxation of the incomes of non-residents investors in the securities" was adopted. We remind that clause 141.4.10 of article 141 of the TCU stipulates that interest or income (discount) of non-residents from government securities, bonds of local loans or debt securities are not subject to taxation which fulfillment of obligations is guaranteed by the state or local guarantees. Such provisions positively influence on making decisions by the foreign investors (creditors) on the purchase of Ukrainian government securities and investing in the economy of the country. However, according to the Explanatory note, to the draft of the above Law, the issue of taxation of other income from securities is not fully regulated by the provisions of this paragraph (for example, income from repurchase or exchange operations at the expense of the state or local budget, which is not a percentage or a discount). The taxation of such incomes will "reduce the investment attractiveness of relevant types of securities and their competitiveness in the capital market," which may...

We remind that on March 23, 2016, the new EU Trade Mark Regulation 2015/2424 came into force, implying significant changes to the current legislation in this field. A number of these changes will come into force on October 1, 2017. The key ones are: The cancellation of the “graphical representation" requirement. The current procedure for the registration of a trademark implies its mandatory presentation in a graphic form. On October 1, the trade mark can be represented in any form, provided that it is clear, self-contained, intelligible and objective. Thus, the applicant will have more opportunities to register such non-traditional types of trade marks as holograms, moving objects, smells, sounds, etc. The guidance of the EUIPO as to the formats of representation are provided at its official website: www.euipo.europa.eu The possibility of applying for EU Certification Marks. This mark is a guarantee of compliance with a specific standard and it is defined as being "capable of distinguishing goods or services which are certified by the proprietor of the mark in respect of material, mode of manufacture of goods or performance of services, quality, accuracy or other...

The client asked us to help him organize his gambling business. He has developed his own virtual game, assuming acceptance of monetary rates, as well as a marketing strategy, after that he needed understanding how to implement his start-up while remaining in the legal field. Since the legislation of Ukraine prohibits gambling (including on the Internet), our task was to find another jurisdiction for obtaining a gaming license, which mandatory requirements were accessibility and simplicity of the procedure for obtaining a license, as well as a low tax burden, since the client did not have experience in this sphere, and the profitability of the future business still had to be checked. In fact, the project turned out to be complex, since it supposed the organization of gambling business from scratch. The process of its implementation included the following stages: 1. registration of a legal entity, which in practice resulted in the business structuring; 2. registration and transfer of copyright to the developed software; 3. opening a bank account and concluding agreements with the providers of payment systems for the ability to conduct transactions (accept cash rates, make...

The National Bank of Ukraine continues the policy of monetary liberalization, weakening already irrelevant anti-crisis restrictions. The next softening, fixed by the Resolution of the Board of the National Bank of August 22, 2017 No. 81, came into force on August 24. This time, the changes have affected both the operations of the Ukrainian population and business, and the activities of banking institutions at the interbank level. Firstly, due to a significant increase in the stability of the foreign exchange market and liquidity of the banking system, the limit on the issuance of funds from bank accounts of individuals through cash desks and ATMs was canceled. We remind that since September 2016, there was a restriction, according to which the depositor was able to receive no more than 250 thousand UAH in the equivalent per day (it means cash in foreign currency and banking metals). It is assumed that this softening will positively affect the state of the foreign exchange market, promoting the increase of the level of customer confidence in banks. The following innovation concerns the liberalization of the approach to savings (deposit) bearer certificates and implies, first,...

In order to increase the flow of debt capital to Ukraine, the National Bank has improved the regime for obtaining financing by the Ukrainian enterprises from the IFO. This is reported in a press release on the website of the bank. The adopted changes have been approved by the Resolution of the NBU Board of 07.09.2017 No. 88 "On Amending certain normative legal acts of the National Bank of Ukraine" and include two main aspects: Exemption of loan agreements in the foreign currency with the IFO from the registration in the NBU. Providing residents with the opportunity to attract loans from the IFO under the contracts that contain special conditions - when the loan currency is determined in UAH, and all transactions between the IFO and a resident borrower are conducted in foreign currency. The operations under the loan agreement will be conducted by an authorized bank in accordance with the terms of the agreement itself, and the cross-border transactions (including at the expense of the purchased foreign currency) can be carried out without registration of the National Bank. The Resolution on the Amendments entered into force on September 13, 2017. It is assumed that...