Client updates

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.

Pursuant to the Registrar of Companies’ directives, every company incorporated in Israel, whether under local or foreign ownership, must file its reports and applications to the Registrar of Companies solely online, through the Corporations Authority’s website.

Under what circumstances will a court rule a transaction is an artificial transaction for tax purposes? In the case of Shalam Packaging Products Group, the district court rejected the tax assessor’s claims and ruled that the group’s restructuring was a legitimate business action and that the group did not execute the restructuring merely to reduce tax liabilities.

A new Israeli Supreme Court ruling states that, in particular instances, Israeli law will apply to engagements and agreements, even if those agreements stipulate that foreign law applies to them. In its decision, the court also issued several significant rulings that could affect commercial relations, in instances when cogent provisions of law apply.

Companies that did not report their digital address to the Registrar of Companies as part of their 2023 annual reports must report them in the 2024 reports. If they fail to do so, they may face fines and sanctions.

The recent preference shown by the administrators of the insolvent ISBECO company toward the purchase offer from Hacarem Spirit indicates that, despite economic logic suggesting otherwise, the highest monetary offer will not always be the winning bid in the process.

The Israel Competition Authority published a consent decree for public comment and ruled that Mizra and Zilber violated the Competition Law by exchanging sensitive business information during their transaction negotiations. Jointly, the companies must now pay a fine of ILS 1.5 million to the State treasury.

An Israeli court ruled that the Israel Tax Authority overcharged apartment sellers who rented out their apartments under the tax-exempt track up until their sale, by a total of more than ILS 100 million. This ruling has major consequences, since the State treasury will be forced to refund the tax overcharges to the apartment sellers who are part of the relevant class. The Israel Tax Authority is expected to appeal the ruling.

In Israel, voluntary liquidation is an orderly procedure that begins with the preparation and submission of a solvency statement by a company’s directors. This is followed by the shareholders’ approval of the liquidation, delivery of notices to the company’s creditors and the Registrar of Companies, and finally the company’s liquidation. It is crucial to conduct the procedure in an orderly manner to avoid exposures, fines, and debts.

Signing a prenuptial agreement has a critical impact not only on the division of property upon divorce, but also on the taxes a couple pays during marriage. It is important for couples to understand the economic advantages inherent in signing a prenuptial agreement and draw one up accordingly.

Contracts in the construction sector utilize various models for calculating the consideration. These models range from contracts aimed at maximizing accuracy to contracts aimed at maximizing certainty. A new Israeli court ruling creates ambiguity between the models and adversely impacts the status of lump-sum contracts.

The Dutch Data Protection Authority strictly interprets GDPR regarding data scraping, stating that data scraping will almost always be illegal.

A tax assessment dispute in Israel has led to a new court ruling dealing with relationships between subsidiaries in a multinational group and classification of the nature of the business activities that the companies provide to each other.