NEWSLETTER – JANUARY 2019 – Vol. 16 Αρ. 16
IMO REGULATIONS ON SULPHUR EMISSIONS (01.01.2020)
Less than one year remains for the official implementation of IMO’s regulations on the limit of sulphur emissions from ships. In particular, as of 01.01.2020 the new limit of max. 0.50% m/m (mass by mass) of sulphur percentage in bunkers’ emissions shall come into force. Following the new standards set by IMO, all parties involved are invited to take care of the fuels’ emissions from the ships, since controls from flag states shall periodically take place. Although the sanctions of no compliance are not yet known, since it is up to the flag states, members to MARPOL to regulate them, it is of no question that the maritime industry shall take effective measures to that end. To meet new standards shipowners should consider either to use fuels with low sulphur products or to use approved methods of cleaning the exhaust gas emissions by installing cleaning machines (“scrubbers”). In cases, the order of newbuilds with installed cleaning systems is an alternative but much more costly than other solutions. Overall, the ΙΜΟ’s regulations are a significant step towards the protection of the environment, but compliance is also a great concern for the maritime community.
PAYMENT ORDER FROM COMMERCIAL INVOICE
Issuance of the payment order is an option preferred to a lawsuit, as it enables acquisition of an executory title promptly. However, issuance of a payment order is not always possible.
When there are unpaid invoices, one can issue payment order, provided they have been accepted by the debtor, which is inferred when the invoice is signed by the debtor.
However, this often is not the case. In such case, the lack of signature on the invoice can be rectified by a combination of documents, e.g. the existence of a bill of shipment, which bears the signature of the debtor for the receipt of the goods, which is submitted along with the invoice which does not bear the debtor’s signature. In such a case, a payment order is issued on the basis of a combination of such documents.
TWO-MONTH EXTENSION OF LAW 3869/2010 FOR THE PROTECTION OF THE ΜΑΙΝ RESIDENCE
On December 31st. 2018, the Act of Legislative Content for the Extension of the possibility for the debtor to submit a proposal exempting his/her principal place of residence from the liquidation under Law No. 3869/2010 was published in the Official Government Gazette (Government Gazette No. (Government Gazette No. A’ 221/31.12.2018). It needs to be mentioned that after the amendment of Law No. 3869/2010 by virtue of Law No. 4336/2015, the possibility of submitting a proposal for exemption of the main residence of the debtor from the liquidation was provided to him or her by the law until December 31st, 2018. With that Act of Legislative Content, a (2) two-month extension was given, i.e. until February 28th, 2019, for the relevant provision of article 9 par. 2 of Law No. 3869/2010, which provides for the possibility of submission by the debtor of a liquidation proposal and a draft settlement of debts with request for exception of his/her principal place of residence from the liquidation before the competent District Civil Court within the framework of his/her request to be subjected to the provisions of that Law.
The above extension concerns the possibility of submitting a proposal to exempt the debtor’s main residence from liquidation. The validity of Law No. 3869/2010, known as the “Katseli Law” for highly indebted households, does not expire on the above date, i.e., if Law No. 3869/2010 is not abolished in its entirety, applications for submitting may be filed normally even after that date, with the protection that they entail, except for the possibility of submitting a request – proposal to exempt the principal place of residence from the liquidation.
THE POSSIBILITY OF SUBMITTING SEPARATE DECLARATIONS OF INCOME BY SPOUSES
The Independent Authority for Public Revenue (A.A.D.E.) announced to taxpayers that it is now possible for spouses to submit separate declarations of income for the fiscal year 2018 and the years to follow, under the Law No. 4172/2013 art. 67. If the spouses wish so, at least one of them must state to A.A.D.E. that they will submit separate declarations of income until the 28th of February 2019. The declaration must be submitted through the website of A.A.D.E. (www.aade.gr). In case only one of the two spouses declares that he wishes to submit separate declarations of income, the other spouse shall be informed from A.A.D.E. by e-mail. If a spouse wishes to revoke his declaration for separate submission of tax declarations, he must state it until the 28th of February 2019. After the expiration of the deadline, it will not be possible to revoke the declaration and submit a joint tax declaration. This option does not apply to members of the registered partnership, taxpayers in insolvency proceedings, separated or under guardianship.
BITCOIN AND THE LEGISLATION ON ELECTRONIC MONEY
Electronic money is governed by Law Νο. 4261/2014, which incorporates into Greek law Directive 2009/110/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council. “Electronic money” means any electronic money stored in electronic, including magnetic, a monetary value represented by a claim against the issuer of electronic money, issued upon receipt of a sum of money for the purpose of making payment transactions and accepted by natural or legal persons other than the issuer. The issuance of electronic money requires the corresponding authorization of a credit institution by the Bank of Greece. Bitcoin, the most popular of cryptocurrencies, is an original digital value code, controlled and stored exclusively by computers. Bitcoin and, generally, virtual currencies differ from electronic money as the money is not expressed in a state-recognized unit, such as the Euro, but in a virtual unit (Case C 264/14, paragraph 12). Given the absence of regulation in individual national legislation, the European Directive according to Payment Services in the Internal Market cannot be applied because the class of transactions in cryptocurrencies does not fall within its scope.