Insights | Denuo

UK to set up a new regulator: the Office of Trade Sanctions Implementation

On 11 December 2023, the United Kingdom announced the creation of a new regulator, the Office of Trade Sanctions Implementation (“OTSI”) which will work in parallel with the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation. On OTSI’s significance, goal and role, read further in our legal update.

Certain transactions in intangible assets may require Government Commission clearance

Draft amendments to clause 1 of Presidential Decree No. 81 of 1 March 2022 have been published. The amendments suggest supplementing the decree with a new category of transactions requiring clearance from the Government Commission for Control over Foreign Investment in the Russian Federation, including transactions involving the alienation or pledge of exclusive rights over intellectual property or means of individualisation. Read further in our legal update.

Denuo tops 2023 Pravo-300 rating

Denuo received 28 firm ratings in the 2023 Pravo-300 guide. The ratings are based on extensive research by Pravo.ru, Russia’s major legal media which carries out an annual survey of the local legal market.

Venture capital financing: Rounds and exists

Venture capital financing affects our lives much more than it may seem at first glance. The companies behind such popular products as Google, WhatsApp, Uber, Zoom, Yandex, Aviasales, Skyeng, Booking and many others once received venture capital investments. This financing mechanism is now the key driver of the modern technological economy.

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Plurality of sole executive body in Russian business companies: key issues and court practice

New income taxation procedure for purchasing work or services from interdependent foreign entities

On 27 November 2023, the President of the Russian Federation signed Federal Law No. 539-FZ intoroducing significant changes to the Russian Tax Code, including amendments providing that, with effect from 1 January 2024, the remuneration for the work or services performed by interdependent foreign entities to Russian taxpayers shall be subject to the Russian withholding tax at a rate of 15%. Read further in our legal update.

Denuo represents Kaproben Handels in a landmark case arising out of a transhipment contract

In 2021, Kaproben Handels, a Swiss coal trader, was in a dispute with OTEKO-Portservice, a major transhipment operator in Russia’s Taman seaport, over the unilateral termination by Kaproben Handels of a USD315 million transhipment contract.

New review of the Russian Supreme Court on corporate disputes on the provision of information by companies

The Presidium of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation approved the Summary of Judicial Practice on Corporate Disputes on the Provision of Information by Companies. In general, the Review reflects the positions previously set out in the clarifications of the Higher Arbitrazh Court of the Russian Federation. However, it also considers the issue of providing information to persons controlling companies, touches upon the criteria of good faith of participants/shareholders when requesting documents and information from a company, and assesses the provisions of confidentiality agreements.

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Lease of commercial immovable property: analysis of key contract terms and negotiating positions of the parties

New procedure for allocating shares in the exclusive right to intellectual property

The recently introduced draft law that has just been introduced in the State Duma of the Russian Federation proposes to provide for the possibility of allocating shares in the exclusive right to intellectual property assets and to create a mechanism for the disposal of such shares. These amendments, if enacted, may have a significant impact on the structuring of joint ventures and on the early phases of structuring relationships between the founders of technology companies. They may also affect the structuring of M&A transactions where intellectual property plays a major role.