Bucharest, 5th of October 2016 – The Financial Supervisory Authority, represented by Mușat & Asociații, has won the court action that the Property Fund initiated in the attempt to obtain the Authority’s approval for changing the fee agreed with the Fund manager, Franklin Templeton Investment Management Ltd.
The dispute was started in 2012, i.e. two years after Franklin Templeton entered into the management contract with the Property Fund. The Fund shareholders decided at that time to change the structure of the fee agreed under the management contract with Franklin Templeton, and requested the Financial Supervisory Authority’s approval for the relevant increase, according to the legal provisions.
In 2013 the Authority rejected the Property Fund’s request, so the Fund challenged in court the Financial Supervisory Authority’s decisions. More than three years after the trial start, the High Court of Cassation and Justice definitively rejected the Property Fund’s action. Previously, the Bucharest Court of Appeal had also found the Fund’s claims ungrounded.
“Looking beyond the final decision, in our opinion the Court exercised patience and availability for analysing extremely complex problems, so as to clarify some challenging and novel points of law, resulting from the Property Fund’s particular organization and operation and the Financial Supervisory Authority’s legal duties towards the Fund. The appeal court’s decision adds to the long line of important victories that Muşat & Asociații achieved in favour of the Financial Supervisory Authority”, says Univ. Prof. Dr. Gheorghe Buta, Co-Managing Partner of Muşat & Asociații.
The team representing the Financial Supervisory Authority in this dispute was coordinated by Gheorghe Buta (Co-Managing Partner of Muşat & Asociații) and included Cosmin Libotean (Partner,Muşat & Asociaţii) and Răzvan Gheorghe (Senior Associate, Muşat & Asociaţii).
About MUŞAT & ASOCIAŢII
MUŞAT & ASOCIAŢII is one of the first law firms established in Romania after 1 January 1990. With 16 partners and over 100 attorneys and advisors, MUŞAT & ASOCIAŢII provides consulting services in all business law areas, including Mergers & Acquisitions, Privatization, Banking, Energy & Natural Resources, Competition, Corporate, Telecommunications & IT, Labor, Tax, Capital Markets, Real Estate, Environmental Law, Litigation & Commercial Arbitration.
Recognized as one of the pillars of Romania’s business law practice, MUŞAT & ASOCIAŢII is constantly recommended by international specialized publications (Chambers & Partners, International Financial Law Review, Legal 500 etc.) as a leading law firm in Romania. Besides, many of its attorneys have been nominated by such publications among the elite of business law in Romania.
In 2015, MUŞAT & ASOCIAŢII won the “Law Firm of the Year in Romania” award, a distinction handed out annually by the reputed British publisher “The Lawyer” to European law firms with outstanding achievements in the reference year.
In 2013, MUŞAT & ASOCIAŢII won the “The Law Firm of the Year in Romania” award granted by the International Financial Law Review. That was the second time that Muşat & Asociaţii was granted this prestigious award, after the distinction received in 2011, when Romania was included for the first time on the list of countries nominated for the International Financial Law Review (IFLR) awards.
Moreover, in 2012 MUŞAT & ASOCIAŢII won the Gold Award for the “Best Law Firm in Central and Eastern Europe”, an accolade awarded by the 2012 International Legal Alliance Summit & Awards, for excellent results obtained on the Romanian market by the MUŞAT & ASOCIAŢII team, both with regard to the mandates portfolio in the Mergers & Acquisitions area of practice, and to the management strategy adopted.
Furthermore, the renowned publication Chambers Europe awarded the “Romanian Law Firm of the Year” trophy to MUŞAT & ASOCIAŢII, the law firm with the best performance in Romania, during the “Chambers Europe Awards for Excellence 2011” gala.
On a regular basis, MUSAT & ASOCIATII provides the most renowned and valued corporations in Romania – including a third of the Top 100 and a half of the Top 500 largest companies – as well as local public and financial institutions with legal advice on intricate corporate and financial transactions and complex dispute resolution procedures. The Law Firm’s portfolio includes over 2,500 clients, most of which are foreign investors.