International law firm Bird & Bird will welcome two partners, three senior counsel and a team of 15 lawyers to the firm’s Budapest office on February 1, providing a significant and strategic boost to the firmʼs Hungarian offering.

Partners David Dederick and Konrád Siegler, together with their team from Weil, Gotshal & Manges, will be combining with the existing Bird & Bird team in Hungary to form a practice able to offer clients significantly broader and deeper advice than either of the two practices individually, according to a press release sent to Budapest Business Journal.

The move comes as Weil, Gotshal & Manges announced it will close its Budapest office from February 1, although it says it will have ongoing cooperation with the new combined Bird & Bird team to assist global clients.

David Dederick has been practising in Central and Eastern Europe for more than 25 years, specialising in cross-border M&A, private equity and real estate matters. The current Managing Partner of Weil, Gotshal & Manges’ Budapest office, David joins Bird & Bird as co-head of Budapest, alongside Bird & Birdʼs existing head, Peter Knight. David has been consistently ranked and recognised as a leading lawyer by Chambers and Partners, Legal 500 and IFLR 1000. His clients fall predominantly into the Tech & Comms, Energy & Utilities, and Life Sciences & Healthcare sectors.

Konrád Siegler has also been practising for more than 25 years. He specialises in banking & finance and capital markets transactions, and also has considerable experience in M&A, privatizations, bankruptcy and restructuring matters and general corporate and commercial law. He has represented Hungarian and international banks (as well as other borrowers) in numerous project finance and syndicated lending transactions. He has also advised on regulatory matters in connection with several bank sale, purchase and merger transactions. He is regularly ranked as one of Hungary’s leading banking and capital markets lawyers.

Joining with David and Konrád is a team of three senior counsels who are strongly recognised in the market: Pál Szabó and Ferenc Mátrai (both corporate) and László Nanyista (dispute resolution). They join Bird & Bird counsel Bálint Halász.

With a team of 15 additional lawyers joining (ten associates and five trainees), the new combined Bird & Bird team will total 29 lawyers, representing one of the most significant developments in the local legal market.

Since opening ten years ago, the Bird & Bird Budapest office has built up strong expertise in intellectual property, tech and communications, dispute resolution and data protection matters, which will complement the new teamʼs market leading expertise in corporate, commercial, dispute resolution, regulatory and finance work, with key clients in the energy, banking and finance, telecom and media sectors.

The combination will also create a strong presence in the sports sector and real estate market. This will enable Bird & Bird to offer a far broader range of services to its existing clients in Hungary, and in the wider Central and Eastern European region.

With its Decree No. 183/2017 (July 5), the Hungarian Government established the Gambling Supervisory Authority (“GSA”), a new authority for supervising gambling activities and services in Hungary.

I. Background of the reorganization

Prior to the establishment of the GSA, the competent department of the Hungarian Tax and Customs Administration (“Administration”) executed the supervisory powers. Now, this department has been separated from the Administration and the GSA undertook the role of supervising gambling activities. The GSA falls under the control of the Minister for National Development and performs its tasks with national competence. The reorganization was underpinned by the facts that the proper surveillance of the industry sector in question and the required increase in staff necessitated the establishment of a separate administrative body.

II. Focuses of the Administration

In 2016, the gambling department of the Administration issued approx. 160 authorizations, performed more than 13,000 inspections and rendered 445 decisions imposing fines amounting to HUF 1,700,000,000 (approx. EUR 5,555,555). The most concerned area was the administrative supervision of the online gambling sector (i.e. provision of online – distance – gambling services without proper license). The gambling operators mainly contested the condemning administrative decisions of the gambling authority and in the previous year, 60 from the 80 court decisions were made in favour of the Tax Administration. It is also highlighted however that 170 litigations concerning the judicial review of administrative decisions regarding online gambling services are still pending. The practice of supervision of the online gambling sector in Hungary was also reviewed by the European Court of Justice (“ECJ”), which confirmed in its judgement dated June 22, 2017 ( delivered in case C-49/16 Unibet International Ltd versus Hungarian Tax and Customs Administration) that the Hungarian regulation on online gambling services infringed Article 56 TFEU (freedom of services). The ECJ declared that even if the regulation itself theoretically provides for the possibility that any service provider is eligible for acquiring authorization for providing online gambling services, in the absence of transparency and specific technical rules for implementation and/or application thereof, the regulation shall still qualify as an unlawful restriction of the freedom of services. As regards pending litigations, the newly established Authority will take over the place of the Administration and now it is up to the competent courts how they interpret the statements of the ECJ as mentioned above with respect to the condemning administrative decisions.

III. New rules concerning operator responsibility and joint player account

Government Decree No. 294/2017 (October 10) further consolidates the protection of minors from the harmful effects of gambling and clarifies the responsibilities of gambling operators regarding player self-restraint measures. Ministerial Decree No. 30/2017 (October 10) introduces new rules regarding the joint player account, which creates the possibility of accounting various types of betting, prizes and other gaming transactions under one account, which concerns several types of games organized by a sole operator. Ministerial Decree No. 34/2017 (October 26) imposes further anti-money laundering obligations on certain gambling operators (e.g. casino, cardroom, online casino operators), such as internal risk assessment, customer identification, due diligence and requirements of audited electronic means of communication.

The organizers are excited to announce that the Official Networking Party will be sponsored by iGamingRadio and they have picked one of the hippest location in Budapest.

The Networking Party is scheduled for 19 September at 21:00 and the venue will only be disclosed to attending delegates. All you need to know is that the venue is right in the Center of Budapest, it’s colorful and is the best place for you to catch up with friends and peers from the industry.

“First of all we are really happy that we are witnessing such a large growth in 2017 at CEEGC Budapest and secondly we are excited to further help increase the presence of our newly launched product (iGaming Radio) in front of the attending delegates. Budapest has many interesting venues for networking, however we are always looking for that vibes and energy which has been felt at our earlier networking parties in Vienna and Prague. Thus, we invite all delegates to take part in this special session which we’ve designed to help unwind after the first day of conference. The drinks are on us, so be sure to stop by, everyone else will be there!“, said Zoltan “Hawkie” Tundik, Founder and Head of Business at EEGMedia.

CEEGC2017 is set to surpass all seminary type events organized by the team, with a 25% growth and a larger speaker lineup during the 2 days of the conference. Mentionable is the fact that the event is organized at one of the most prestigious venues in Budapest, the Kempinski Corvinus Budapest.

More about the sponsor of the Networking Party:

iGaming Radio is the first online radio which is streaming gaming related news exclusively thorough daily shows

The aim of the station is to keep its audience connected 24/7 with the online gaming industry by playing awesome music and serving the news first hand. Your days in the office will never be the same again!                                       TUNE IN TO iGAMING RADIO NOW!

www.igamingradio.com

How to secure your seat?

The tickets can be booked at the Advance rate of 358.80 EUR until the 14th of September, 2017. Limited seating (Online payment, Bitcoin or Bank Wire Available)

Register here: https://ceegc.eu/registration/

For more details visit the official website, www.ceegc.eu or contact the organizers directly by email ([email protected]) or by phone (0040 735 559 234).