Wealth management conference in Luxembourg and the pitfalls of the current political situation in Slovakia

In the context of the increasingly worrisome political situation in Slovakia and the war in Ukraine, a number of clients have a need to diversify their assets geographically. As part of our advisory practice Highgate Group the topic of wealth management is being addressed more and more intensively both legally and tax-wise. Peter Varga therefore participated in the STEP Europe conference in November, which discussed modern trends and challenges of contemporary planning in the context of European realities.

It is the legal uncertainty in Slovakia caused not only by the volatile political situation, Russian aggression, but also by the often less predictable decision-making activity of Slovak decision-making bodies that are the main motives why entrepreneurs or investors are looking for opportunities to geographically diversify their assets.

For example, at our recent conference on legal and tax optimization of technology companies, the owners of such companies commented on the question, “If after the next parliamentary elections a government were to emerge from political parties that downplayed (did not believe in) COVID and that today are more or less spreading pro-Russian rhetoric about the perception of the war in Ukraine, what would be your reaction?” as follows:

• 36% would immediately start taking steps to move their company abroad;
• 45% would start thinking about moving abroad;
• 19% would wait to see how the situation develops;
• 0 % would not reflect such a result

Political risks are thus perceived as a sensitive part of the added value of the Slovak economy. However, geographic and functional diversification brings several legal and tax challenges.

• Can Slovak authorities freeze a foreign bank account?
• Are Slovak interim measures enforceable abroad?
• How safe are Swiss banks?
• How to set up a trust structure correctly?
• How to tax income from a trust or how to effectively set up a holding structure?
• How to transfer a healthy core business to another company?
• How not to be on finstate?

At Highgate Group, these are precisely the issues that we address at our law firm.

If you are interested in this topic, please do not hesitate to contact us.