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Latest Updates / Regulation
January 18, 2022
Israeli Competition Authority Taking Strict Position toward Vertical Price Maintenance Arrangements
A few days ago, the Israeli Competition Authority published for public comments draft public statement 1/22, presenting its position on vertical price maintenance arrangements. The final public statement 1/22 will replace the Competition Authority’s previous statement 2/17 published in 2018.
January 11, 2022
Regulating Israeli Banks’ Provision of Services to Licensed Cryptocurrency Service-Providers
The Bank of Israel is proposing to regulate the provision of services to licensed cryptocurrency service-providers so that banks will not be able to sweepingly refuse to provide service and will have to formulate a risk management policy.
January 10, 2022
Dramatic Ruling on Excessive Pricing: District Court Denies Two Motions to Certify Class Actions against Tnuva
In December 2021, the Jerusalem District Court dismissed two motions to certify a class action against the leading dairy manufacturer in Israel, Tnuva, for charging excessive prices. Both the motion and the dismissal are part of an intense dispute for years. The dispute revolves around whether the prohibition of a monopolist charging an “unfair” price applies to charging excessive fees. In 2014, the director-general of the Competition Authority published a public statement on the prohibition of excessive pricing by a monopoly.
January 5, 2022
Israeli Environmental Protection Ministry Takes Major Step to Ensure Environmental Rehabilitation per Polluter Pays Principle
The Knesset Finance Committee, headed by MK Alex Kushnir (Yisrael Beitenu), recently approved a mechanism for compensation for the rehabilitation of industrial waste damages caused by Rotem Amfert (of the ICL Group). The committee arrived at the mechanism as part of discussions on the extension of the phosphate mining concession currently granted to the company.
January 3, 2022
Will NFTs Push Regulators to Regulate the Metaverse?
Currently, most regulators and governments are on the fence with regards to NFTs, waiting to see what other jurisdictions do or how the market develops. In some instances, governments and regulators are trying to address this issue more actively, but with very different outcomes.
December 30, 2021
Privacy Protection Laws in Israel – Outlook for 2022
The legislation of privacy protection laws in Israel has shifted into high gear and is beginning to close the gap with legislation in Europe. A major step in this direction occurred about a month ago when the Ministerial Committee for Legislation approved a series of legislative amendments designed to adapt the Privacy Protection Law to the consumers, technologies, and trends of 2022.
December 27, 2021
Lecture: The Practice of Environmental Law
Dr. Zvi Gabbay will lecture today to members of the "Law and Environment" student club at Bar-Ilan University. The lecture will cover the practice of environmental law and include an analysis of precedent-setting judgments on the subject of the environment.
December 12, 2021
Do You Own Crypto? AML Order Also Applies to Digital Currencies
For the first time, companies providing virtual currency services will be required to comply with Israeli anti-money laundering provisions. This follows an amendment to the Prohibition of Money Laundering Order that recently came into effect. The amendment will apply to financial asset service providers obligated to hold a license under the Control of Financial Services Law.
December 5, 2021
Israeli Ministry of Environmental Protection: ILS 3 Million Sanction on Shufersal
The Israeli Ministry of Environmental Protection announced this week its imposition of a pecuniary sanction totaling about ILS 3 million on the leading supermarket chain Shufersal for violations of the Clean Air Law. (In particular, the company violated provisions mandating the reduction and prevention of air pollution from its vehicles).
December 1, 2021
ESG – Risks and Legal Responsibility – A Lecture by Dr. Zvi Gabbay
Since the COVID-19 outbreak and the exacerbation of the climate crisis, ESG factors have increasingly influenced the profit line of businesses. The ESG Management Program at the Coller School of Management at Tel Aviv University, which will open in March 2022, will bring the most important aspects of ESG to those whose activities have an impact on the investment chain: executives, directors, investors, analysts, and public sector personnel.
As part of the program, Dr. Zvi Gabbay will give a lecture entitled: "Risks and Legal Responsibility - How ESG Becomes a Significant Part of the Duties of an Organization's Officers and What Happens When Neglected."
November 28, 2021
For the First Time, Israel Competition Authority Enforces Prohibition on Excessive Pricing
For the first time, the Israel Competition Authority has opened enforcement proceedings against a monopolist for abuse of its dominant position by charging an unfairly high price. Subject to a hearing, the authority intends to impose a pecuniary sanction of ILS 8 million on MBI Pharma Ltd. and personal sanctions on two officers of the company (of about ILS 600,000 each). The company faces accusations of charging an excessive price for Leadiant, a life-saving drug for CTX patients (an incurable genetic disease), which is marketed by MBI Pharma in Israel.
November 22, 2021
Indictments Filed in Israel over Officers’ Responsibility for Ecological Disaster
About seven years ago, one of the worst ecological disasters in Israel’s history occurred. During work to divert an oil pipeline, one of the old pipelines belonging to the government company Eilat Ashkelon Pipeline Co. Ltd. (EAPC) ruptured near the Evrona Nature Reserve. As a result, about five million liters of crude oil poured from the pipeline into the nature reserve located in the Arava Valley.
November 3, 2021
Do You Own a Database? You’re Also Responsible for Actions Performed by Third Parties
The Black Shadow hacking group’s attack on Cyberserve, reported a few days ago, has resulted (at this point in time) in the leaking of a database with more than 800,000 records pertaining to various individuals and the exposure of additional databases. This attack raises important questions about the relations between database owners and the third parties with whom they engage to receive various services relating to business activities that incidentally involve their data.
October 28, 2021
How Can China’s New Privacy Protection Law Affect Your Business?
On November 1, 2021, the new Chinese Personal Information Protection Law (PIPL) will come into effect. This law is modeled after the well-known European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
Like the GDPR, the PIPL will apply not only to Chinese organizations, but also to any organization processing the personal information of people located in China.
Therefore, any organization that collects data from China must comply with this new law or risk suffering the consequences.
October 25, 2021
Bar-Ilan University Law and Environment Club: Ethical Consumerism and Sustainable Fashion
As part of the inaugural event of Bar-Ilan University’s Law and Environment Club, firm partner Sagi Gross will deliver opening remarks on the importance of law and the environment. His speech will touch on developments and changes in recent years.
September 30, 2021
Op-Ed: Knesset Debate on Establishment of Regulatory Authority
Dr. Zvi Gabbay, the head of our Capital Market and Financial Regulation Department, has an op-ed in Globes on the current Knesset debate over the establishment of a new regulatory authority.
September 29, 2021
ESG: The New Must-Have in the Due Diligence Process
An assessment of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors has become an integral part of the due diligence review of companies. Such assessment may provide a potential acquirer with a detailed analysis of a company’s ability to operate successfully in a corporate world with growing environmental awareness. This is especially important for companies looking at merger and acquisition targets and seeking new investments. It is also important for any company for its future planning.
September 19, 2021
Israeli Privacy Protection Authority Publishes New Statement Concerning Location Data in Workplaces
There has been an uptrend in recent years of employers using a variety of technological tools to supervise their employees and oversee the quality of their work. The use of these tools has become more prevalent due to the shift of many organizations to working from home last year.
August 25, 2021
Europe: Amazon Slapped with Record-Breaking Privacy Fine
E-commerce giant Amazon reported in its financial statements at the end of last month that the Luxembourg data protection authority had imposed on it a fine totaling EUR 746 million. The fine appears to have been laid on Amazon for its use of users’ personal data for targeted advertising, in violation of the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
August 2, 2021
Class Actions Against Israeli Public Companies for Failing to Meet Mandatory Accessibility Requirements
Dozens of motions were filed in recent weeks to certify class actions against some of the most well-known and leading publicly traded companies and reporting corporations in Israel. These motions to certify class actions are similar in nature (apart from the different defendants) and most were filed by the same plaintiffs-petitioners and through the same attorneys.