Doing Business in Hungary 2010 - International Franchise Association

Harbor is that failure to fulfill the commitments will be actionable as an unfair and deceptive
practice under Section 5 of the FTC Act or under a concurrent Department of Transportation
statute for air carriers and ticket agents. While the United States as a whole does not enjoy an
adequacy finding, transfers that are covered by the Safe Harbor scheme will. Companies whose
activities are not regulated by the FTC or DoT (e.g. banks, credit unions, savings and loan
institutions, securities dealers, insurance companies, not-for-profit organizations, meat packing
facilities, or telecommunications carriers) are not eligible to sign up to the Safe Harbor.
EU based exporters or U.S. based importers of personal data can also satisfy the adequacy
requirement by including data privacy clauses in the contracts they sign with each other. The
Data Protection Authority in the EU country from where the data is being exported must approve
these contracts. To fast track this procedure the European Commission has approved sets of
model clauses for personal data transfers that can be inserted into contracts between data
importers and exporters. The most recent were published at the beginning of 2005; work to
update these and develop new ones is ongoing. Most transfers using contracts based on these
model clauses do not require prior approval. Companies must bear in mind that the transfer of
personal data to third countries is a processing operation that is subject to the general data
protection Directive regardless of any Safe Harbor, contractual or consent arrangements.
EU countries’ Data Protection Authorities (DPAs) and large multinational companies are also
developing a third major approach to compliance with EU rules on transfers of personal data to
countries outside the EU. This is based on country-by-country approval of “binding corporate
rules” (BCRs). Companies that set up BCRs that satisfy European DPAs will be able to use the
presumption of conformity that these approvals provide to transfer personal data from the EU to
any location in the world – not just the United States. BCRs can be a tool for compliance with
privacy rules on a global scale. The process of negotiation and approval of the BCRs is
currently lengthy and complex, and has not been attempted by small or medium-sized
companies.
Key Links:
http://www.export.gov/safeharbor/
http://ec.europa.eu/justice_home/fsj/privacy/modelcontracts/index_en.htm
http://ec.europa.eu/justice_home/fsj/privacy/workinggroup/wpdocs/2007_en.htm
Establishing an Office Return to top
Registering a company in Hungary is relatively quick and efficient. As stipulated in the Act on
the Registration of Companies (Act CXLV of 1997), a registration application for the
establishment of a Limited Liability Company (Kft) or Limited Company (Rt) must be filed with
the appropriate Hungarian Court of Registration, located in each county, within 30 days
following the signing of the deed of foundation or the articles of association. If an official license
is required for the establishment of the company, it must be attached to the application form.
The company is established upon entry into the Companies Register as of the date of such
entry. The court must decide on the application within 30 days. If the court fails to do so, the
company will automatically be registered on the 39th day from the date of application. Should
the court reject the application, the company must terminate its operation and its members are
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