Online interrogation of a foreign witness by a Polish court in a commercial court case – practical bullet points on the example of a specific witness summons.

The changes in the functioning of the justice system caused by the COVID-19 have been ongoing since the first quarter of 2020. The first of them were introduced in the Polish legal system at the beginning of March 2020, and to date these regulations have already been amended several times. The changes mainly concern court proceedings, the way in which cases are dealt with, as well as the issue of questioning witnesses. The present article will focus on the latter issue, in order to explain in detail how a witness is summoned and examined by a Polish court.

In accordance with article 15 zzs¹ of the Polish Act of March 2, 2020 on special solutions related to the prevention, counteraction and combating of COVID-19, other infectious diseases and crisis situations caused by them (hereinafter as the “Act”):

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On September 30, 2021 KIELTYKA GLADKOWSKI KG LEGAL will participate in Pro Cybersecurity Webinar on cyberattacks, organized by Wall Street Journal and sponsored by Dow Jones.

The webinar will address multiple issues related to ransomware and other extortion attacks on companies. The speakers will analyse nation-state cyber activity and the motivations behind it, gaps in the understanding and how the latter may be addressed. The participants will, among others learn:

Which types of nation-state attacks have been detected recently,

Where the gaps in our understanding of nation-state attacks are,

What data and which industries are at risk,

Whether there is a hard boundary between cyber crime and nation-state attacks

How organizations can prepare for cyberattacks.

The speakers will include:

JOANNA BURKEY, CISO HP

ANTHONY FERRANTE, SENIOR MANAGING DIRECTOR, GLOBAL HEAD OF CYBERSECURITY, FTI CONSULTING

JAMES ANDREW LEWIS, SVP AND PROGRAM DIRECTOR, STRATEGIC TECHNOLOGIES PROGRAM, CENTER FOR STRATEGIC & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

The subject matter of the webinar is closely related to core specialisations of KIELTYKA GLADKOWSKI within cyber security, data protection & data privacy, international data transfers, data breaches, cybersecurity in e-payments as well as data security in virtual currencies.

https://wsjprocyberwebinars.com/nationstateattacks?mod=djm_EM_9-30CybWeb_LastChance_9-29-2021&utm_campaign=Approved_PROMO_20210929_WSJ%20Pro%20Cyber_09%2F30_Last%20chance_HTML_Email_Above_Fatigue&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua

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On 20th – 24th September 2021 KIELTYKA GLADKOWSKI KG LEGAL is taking part in London Tech Week that gathers the world’s most inspirational founders, global leaders, senior investors and rising stars to collaborate and discuss the vital role of technology in society. This year’s edition will be divided into thematic sections, including, inter alia, 5G World, Climate Tech 2021, HealthTech Summit, Reimagining Healthcare through AI, AI Summit, Global Leaders Innovation Summit, the Quantum Computing Science.

https://londontechweek.com/

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What are merchant services?

Plural form of this phrase suggests that there is a set of various services, actions that provide a financial (payment to be more precise) services to the merchant. Merchant services are situated between the merchant and the costumer during the commercial transaction, because the money should move through the merchant services provider’s system. Merchant services are provided via credit cards, debit cards, electronic payments methods. Typically the banks, credit card companies or other businesses are providers of such services.

In the cryptocurrency sector merchant services encompass cryptocurrency payment services.

How merchant services work?

Merchant services receives cryptocurrency payment from a customer on behalf of the merchant. A merchant will receive funds via immediate settlement to their bank account, or may choose to settle in cryptocurrency.

Cryptocurrency can now be accepted online and in person, for online transactions you will require a payment gateway which will accept cryptocurrency. The most common way is through bitcoin online payments; however, solutions are available for most mainstream providers.

What is a merchant services provider?

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The Wall Street Journal recently described quirks in the U.S. Tax Treaty with Malta that became a popular topic in the legal advice sector.[1] In the said article, WSJ describes an offshore tax shelter (a tax regulation in Malta) which promises rich Americans they can avoid lots of capital-gains taxes by setting up pensions in Malta. This issue is not only American struggle with tax abuse. For instance, Poland has also signed an international tax treaty with Malta (Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Poland and the Government of Malta for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income signed in La Valetta on 7 January 1994)[2] and in 2020 the Treaty was amended due to the necessity of closing loopholes in the international (bilateral) tax system[3]. Moreover as a restoration of the Polish industry after COVID-19 pandemic, the Polish Government and the Ministry of Finance prepared the new Tax Act which shall prevent the change of the entity’s tax residence to the offshore tax shelter [4].

Before we move to the tax abuse based on the U.S. bilateral tax treaty with Malta it is advisable to start with Treaty’s provisions treatment.

U.S. – MALTA TAX TREATY

The Treaty was done in 8 August 2008 and came into force in late 2010. As Jeffrey L. Rubinger wrote The Treaty contains very favorable provisions that can result in significant tax benefits to U.S. members of a Maltese pension. In order for such U.S. members to take advantage of these benefits, the pension must qualify as a resident of Malta under the Treaty and also satisfy the limitation on benefits (LOB) article of the Treaty. [5] In his article Rubinger enumerates the Treaty’s provisions that could become a victim of the interpretation tax abuse.

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