Client updates

The Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) is an EU regulatory framework, aimed at enhancing the financial sector’s ability to withstand and recover from ICT (information and communication technology) disruptions.

The Israel Securities Authority recently published a draft of a new directive for payment companies and holders of basic initiation licenses or approvals regarding reporting to the Authority. According to the Draft, payment companies and holders of basic initiation licenses or approvals are required to submit annual, semi-annual, quarterly, and immediate reports on various topics, such as audited or reviewed financial data, operational data, compliance with capital requirements, technological measures, corporate governance, compliance etcetera.

The Israel Securities Authority has published several additional revisions to the Israeli money market reform since the Knesset approved legislative amendments designed to promote competition in the money market, and since the draft directives and rules were published approximately two months ago. The money market reform relates to money market mutual funds, deposits and government bonds (short-term loans maturing in no more than one year).

The Privacy Protection Authority has issued a mandatory guideline holding the board of directors fully responsible for information security, with heavy fines for violations. The guideline requires the board to oversee compliance with regulations and develop organizational policies, particularly for entities processing sensitive personal data.

Recently, the Consumer Protection and Fair-Trade Authority issued a position paper regarding the disclosure obligations businesses must meet when making changes to product characteristics or components. According to the position paper, any material change in a product’s characteristics or components must be clearly and prominently displayed on the product itself, allowing the consumer to make an informed decision regarding the product. This is because consumers typically do not recheck a product’s features or ingredients, when they purchase it regularly.

The Knesset approved a series of legislative amendments this past July designed to promote competition in the money market – money market mutual funds, deposits and government bonds (short-term loans maturing in less than one year) – and to enable the general public to achieve higher returns on its short-term savings.

An important amendment to the Israeli Severance Pay Law was enacted recently to facilitate the process of redeeming the severance pay of employees who died during the period prescribed in the amendment.

The U.S. court is hearing artists’ lawsuits against AI platforms for copyright infringement. The decision could lead to new regulations and insights into the impact of using protected works for training.

This year, the Israeli Capital Market, Insurance and Savings Authority issued a series of new and revised circulars regarding proper management and corporate responsibility by financial service providers.

Following the Financial Action Task Force’s announcements, the Israel Money Laundering and Terror Financing Prohibition Authority published a list of countries and jurisdictions at high risk of money laundering, terror financing, and proliferation financing.

The amended regulations, expected to come into effect in August 2024, improve the tax benefit track for new immigrants who are purchasing a first residence and are more lenient than the purchase tax track to which every Israeli resident is entitled when purchasing a first residence.

Important amendment to the Prevention of Sexual Harassment Law in Israel protects employees of service contractors and obligates customers ordering services to address incidents of sexual harassment committed on their premises, even if the employees are employees of service contractors and not of manpower contractors.

The Bank of Israel’s Payment Systems Oversight Division recently published an access guide to supervised payment systems for Israeli and foreign applicants.

The uptrend in warning letters, enforcement proceedings, and motions to certify class actions against manufacturers and importers obligated to achieve defined recycling targets by virtue of the Processing of Packaging Law is likely to intensify, inter alia, because filing such motions does not involve paying a fee.

The recent reform of the Privacy Protection Law aligns Israel’s privacy regulations more closely with European standards.

A new trend that offers potential traders trading experience is challenging regulations and raising complex legal questions about the existence of a “trading platform” and the need for an investment advice or portfolio management license.

Israel’s Privacy Protection Authority has published a draft opinion clarifying its interpretation regarding transfers of personal data from Israel to other countries. According to this interpretation, such transfers of personal data are generally permitted only if the receiving country ensures a level of data protection equivalent to that of Israel.

The Israeli court’s precedent-setting ruling in Aviad Concrete Industries v. Nesher Israel Cement Enterprises found that Nesher violated provisions of the Economic Competition Law when it gave its major customers significantly higher rebates than those it gave to its small customers, thereby harming competition.

When the law came into effect last month, the Knesset Economic Affairs Committee prescribed an important series of exemptions from licensing requirements and updated timetables for submitting license applications in particular instances.

Until now, the HHS guidance provided a very broad interpretation of what constituted “protected health information” (PHI). This interpretation severely restricted data analytics service providers’ ability to cater to hospitals and for hospitals to manage their digital assets, in addition to exposing them to class action lawsuits. A federal court’s ruling to vacate the guidance is expected to facilitate both service providers and hospitals.