Areas of expertise
Competition law – State aid
Many years of professional training and the commitment of team members to follow modern legal trends in the field of competition law, based on EU rules and transposition of the EU acquis communautaire and the practices of the European Commission (EC), has enabled IA Lawyers to have professional capacity for comprehensive consulting of clients in all forms of business practices of companies for the purpose of full respect and compliance of business with the rules on protection of competition.
From the field of expertise of IA Lawyers, which includes consulting in the field of competition law, we provide the following services:
- harmonization of business with the rules on competition protection and Competition Compliance - development and implementation of general and special Compliance programs in the field of competition law, training and education of employees;
- concentrations - analysis of meeting of the conditions for notification of concentration and notification of concentrations in BiH as well as multi-jurisdiction concentrations (cross-border mergers, notification of concentrations in the jurisdiction of different countries in cooperation with partner lawyers from abroad;
- analysis of fulfillment of conditions for group (block) exemption of agreements, analysis and preparation of requests for individual exemption of agreements;
- analyzes and recommendations regarding prohibited agreements (horizontal and vertical agreements) and abuse of a dominant position (cartels, etc.);
- M&A due diligence – in-depth analysis of all aspects of the M&A transactions (JV transactions, acquisition of individual control, etc.) and risk in the light of competition rules;
- drafting requests for official opinions of regulatory bodies;
- drafting and harmonization of contracts with competition law (distribution, franchising, know-how, licensing, specialization, production, commercialization, standardization, etc.);
- preparation of complete documentation, recommendations and "Codes of Conduct" to protect the confidentiality of participants in the M&A transaction, preparation of NDA agreements and proper formation of the Clean Team;
- joint ventures - recommendations for compliance with competition rules, avoidance of prohibited sharing of commercially sensitive information;
- Digitization and competition law (digital economy, “digital ecosystems”, M&A in the IT sector, etc.);
- complete legal support in case of unannounced inspections / inspections of competent authorities (“dawn raids”);
- defining the relevant market, calculating the consolidated revenues of the parties to the concentration, market shares, sector analysis of the market - in cooperation with the partner economic, and other consultants;
- recommendations for conditions and programs for exemption from the obligation to pay fines for competition violations (Leniency program);
- competition rules and Corona virus (COVID-19).
IA Lawyers also provide client advisory services to harmonize businesses and comply with state aid rules, which rules, as part of and a significant pillar of the competition law policy, also aim to prevent disturbance of competition in the market. The counseling services provided by IA Lawyers in the field of state aid are as follows:
- Development, analysis and evaluation of project proposals and investment projects, public-private transactions and partnerships (legal, economic and other aspects - in cooperation with partner economic, and other consultants);
- Horizontal state aid (SME, large legal entities, rehabilitation and restructuring, employment, etc.);
- Vertical (sector) state aid;
- State aid in form of specific instruments of state aid;
- Reporting on state aid to the competent regulatory authorities;
- Legal analysis, due diligence;
- Preparation of requests for official opinions of regulatory bodies
- State aid rules and Corona virus (COVID-19);
- Representation before the competent authorities.
Taking into account the specifics of competition law and state aid, which represent a sort of a symbiosis of economic and legal knowledge and solutions, due to which it requires a special multidisciplinary approach, in the professional analysis and work on cases in this field, our team works closely with experienced and renowned team of economic experts, who as the external associates of the office contribute to the comprehensiveness, quality and substance of the analysis, in goal of best protecting the business interests of the clients.
We provide representation services before the BiH Competition Council, the State Aid Council of BiH, the Court of BiH, the Constitutional Court of BiH and other courts and administrative bodies, as well as before the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) and the European Commission (EC) in respect of the issues and proceedings concerning competition law (concentrations, horizontal and vertical agreements, abuse of a dominant position, dawn raids, Leniency, etc.) and state aid. Also, in cooperation with lawyers and consultants from abroad, we coordinate complex M&A transactions for the purpose of representing and protecting the interests of clients also in foreign jurisdictions (Croatia, Serbia, Macedonia, Slovenia, Albania, Austria, Turkey, etc.).
Contact person
Adi Ibrahimović
Attorney at Law │ Managing Partner
Areas of expertise: Corporate Law; M&A; Competition law; Tax law; Taxes; Dispute resolution.
