Energy crisis, inflation, and the forint exchange rate slide: what impact have these circumstances produced on the office lease market? This article aims to provide an overview of the challenges the office lease market faces in Hungary in such a turbulent period.

In terms of legislation, first, a long-awaited amendment of the insolvency act allows the liquidator to upkeep the debtors’ operation during the liquidation process even if it is at a loss, if it can be assumed that the operation preserves the assets better than shutting off the business would. The liquidator can decide to continue the operation for the first 120 days of the liquidation procedure, but any further extension of this operation period requires the approval of the court.

In recent years, the major development in Hungary’s banking system is the establishment of the country’s superbank through the merger of Budapest Bank, MKB Bank, and the Takarek Group. DLA Piper Partner Andras Nemescsoi, Forgo Damjanovic & Partners Managing Partner Gabor Damjanovic, and Jalsovszky Law Firm Managing Partner Pal Jalsovszky share insights into the driving forces behind this development, its current status, and its anticipated impact on Hungary’s banking sector.

Herbst Kinsky has advised Lifetree Asset Management – Froots – on its second financing round which saw Gregor Schlierenzauer and Ronald Holzmann join existing investors Georg Kapsch, Andreas Treichl, Gina Goess, and Reinhold Baudisch, with the company raising over one million euros. 

Legislative updates across the board in Bosnia & Herzegovina – with talks of criminalizing defamation, introducing electronic money, and overhauling the renewable energy framework – keep lawyers talking, according to Nikolina Bajic, Attorney at Law in cooperation with BDK Advokati.

On May 22, 2023, CEE Legal Matters reported that Wolf Theiss, working with Milbank, had advised the initial purchasers and lenders on Salzburg-based Benteler Group’s capital market debut issuance and loans amounting to over EUR 2 billion. CEELM reached out to Wolf Theiss Partner Matthias Schimka to learn more about the matter.