Adv. Roy Engel from our firm recently took part in a webinar on Cayman Islands hedge funds, hosted by the Israel Hedge Fund Association (IHFA). Roy discussed the latest regulatory and corporate governance requirements in the Cayman Islands. The session was both highly relevant and informative.
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Insights & News / Roy Engel
Barnea: Israel Hedge Funds Association’s 2025 Annual Conference
As part of our collaboration with the Israel Hedge Funds Association, we were delighted to serve as the legal sponsors of the 2025 Annual Conference. The conference highlighted topics such as emerging strategies and perspectives in the hedge fund industry, the key challenges and opportunities shaping Israel’s economy, and the broader vision of positioning Israel as a global financial center.
Categories:
Hedge Funds
USD 175 Million Investment in the Data Centers Market
Adv. Roy Engel, Adv. Yana Zilbershtein, and Adv. Yakov Vilenski from our firm advised Menora Mivtachim on significant investments totaling USD 175 million in two companies operating in the data center sector, as part of the company’s strategy to expand its presence in this growing market. These include a USD 100 million investment in the US-based fund IPI Partners, which specializes in developing custom-built data centers for global technology giants such as Google and Amazon, and an additional USD 75 million investment in Aligned Data Centers, a leading US technology infrastructure company.
Conference: Innovations and Updates for Hedge Fund Managers
Adv. Roy Engel is speaking this morning at a conference hosted by the Israeli Hedge Fund Association (IHFA) at the offices of PwC. His lecture focuses on key considerations and insights from a fund manager’s perspective during due diligence processes.
Categories:
Hedge Funds
Comprehensive Comparison Between Closed-End Funds and Open-End Funds
Investment funds have a variety of legal structures customized to investors’ various needs and investment policies. The two main fund structures are closed-end funds and open-end funds, which differ in several material parameters, as explained below.
Adv. Roy Engel with IHFA: Cayman Islands Hedge Funds
US Regulatory Authorities Look to Increase Hedge Funds' Transparency and Stability
The new rules will require managers of large hedge funds to disclose additional information about their activities and strategies and provide more detail about their investments, including the countries and industries in which they are invested, leverage exposures, and more. As expected, fund managers are objecting, arguing that the new requirements will lead to superfluous information overload.
Institutional Investors, Investment Funds, and ESG
The European regulations that apply to investment funds are expanding to cover ESG issues. Israeli institutional investors should familiarize themselves with the regulations and prepare for similar regulations in Israel.
Israeli Institutional Investors and Transfer Rights
Investment funds usually make transfers of units in a fund to third parties contingent upon the approval of the fund managers. This practice may make it difficult for Israeli institutional investors to prove ownership and absolute control over units, as required by the regulations.
Default Arrangements in Israeli Investment Funds – Unwritten Provisions in Partnership Agreements
Many investors and fund managers are unaware that a simple reading of the relevant partnership agreement is not sufficient to get the “full picture” of the legal conditions that apply to their specific limited partnership.
Adv. Roy Engel Lectures on Hedge Funds, VCs, and PEs
As an expert in the funds field, Adv. Roy Engel was invited to lecture in a course led by the Israel Financial Institute (IFI) for 50 Altshuler Shaham managers. Roy discussed different types of alternative investments, as well as the legal, administrative, and supervisory aspects of the fund structures.
Barnea: Advising Migdal on USD 100 Million Investment
Adv. Roy Engel, Adv. Yana Zilbershtein, and Adv. Yakov Vilenski advised Migdal on a USD 100 million investment in the real estate investment fund Exeter Industrial Value Fund EQT. More than 90% of the investors in the fund are American and international institutional entities. Migdal is the only Israeli investor.
Distribution Waterfalls in Private Investment Funds
The growth of private equity funds in Israel derives mainly from the maturation of many Israeli companies. So what are the main differences between private equity funds (PE) and venture capital funds (VC)?
Barnea: Hosting Conference with Israel Hedge Funds Association
Adv. Roy Engel and Adv. Yana Zilbershtein spoke at a conference hosted by our firm on the early stages of hedge fund formation. The conference was held in collaboration with the Israel Hedge Funds Association, with PwC and Apex Israel also participating.
Barnea Represents Migdal in Investment in Major European Infrastructure Project
Adv. Roy Engel and Adv. Yakov Vilenski represented Migdal in an ILS 130 million investment in one of the biggest infrastructure projects in Europe: the NeuConnect Interconnector. This project consists of a 725 km submarine power transmission line that will connect the English power grid with the German power grid for the first time. The investment agreement was signed with the French fund MIE III Co-Investment Fund II S.L.P.
Categories:
Investment Funds
Doral Renewable Energy Signs USD 390 Million Financing Agreement for Mammoth North Energy Project
Funding for the project in Indiana, which is expected to produce about 1,600 megawatts of clean energy, is being put forward by a consortium led by Deutsche Bank. Adv. Roy Engel and Adv. Samuel Henry Samuel represented Doral in the transaction, alongside McDermott Will & Emery.
Migdal Group Invests in Scandinavian Energy
Migdal Group has invested, together with other partnerships, in the alternative energy projects of Fu-Gen AG and Fu-Gen Assets 4 AB. Firm partners Adv. Micky Barnea, Adv. Ariella Dreyfuss, and Adv. Roy Engel advised on the ILS 1 billion investment.
Cayman Islands Policy Change Regarding the Classification of Countries vis-à-vis the Anti-Money-Laundering Laws
From "low" to "moderate" risk of money laundering: the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority's classification change and its impact on Israel.
Barnea Represents Menora Mivtachim in USD 30 Million Investment in Jio
Jio, India’s largest telecommunications company, recently completed a major funding round with investments from leading multinational corporations, including Google and Facebook. Israeli insurance company Menora Mivtachim invested approximately USD 30 million in the round. Adv. Roy Engel represented Menora Mivtachim in the transaction.
Cayman Islands Removed from EU “Non-Cooperative Tax Jurisdiction” Blacklist
In late March 2020 we published a note regarding the de-facto “downgrade” of the Cayman Islands by the European Union’s Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN) as a “non-cooperative jurisdiction” for tax purposes. This was regarded by the international investment community as a “blacklisting” of the Cayman Islands. We noted then that this blacklisting was “a technical result of the delay in the enactment of [certain Cayman Islands] laws, and therefore it is expected the EU will agree to return the Cayman Islands to its previous status and remove it from the list of the list of “non-cooperative jurisdictions” as early as by October 2020.” Indeed on October 6, 2020, ECOFIN removed the Cayman Islands from its “blacklist” of non-cooperative jurisdictions in tax matters.
Establishment of New Investment Fund in Asia
Meitav Dash’s Liquidity Fund will partner with MUFG Bank, Japan’s largest bank, to establish a private investment fund in Asia. Incorporated in Singapore, the fund will provide credit to Asian companies through transactions that securitize future cash flows. Adv. Roy Engel and Adv. Yuval Lazi led our firm’s advice to Liquidity, which will provide management and underwriting services to the joint venture.
Taxation of Hedge Funds in Israel – A Short Guide to the Perplexed
A hedge fund is an entity comprised of several investors seeking to invest in financial assets to achieve a common profit, where the execution of the investment may change from one fund to another, in accordance with the investment strategies put in place by the fund manager.
Cayman Islands Blacklisted by EU as a “Non-Cooperative Tax Jurisdiction”
The EU announced recently, following a meeting of its Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN), that the Cayman Islands has been moved to Annex 1 of the list of “non-cooperative jurisdictions” for tax purposes.