Insights & News / Anat Even-Chen

Since a combat situation in Israel is not deemed force majeure, the legislature and the regulatory authorities recommend that parties to contracts hold dialogues on the contract terms in good faith, to the extent the state of emergency does not enable all contract clauses to be performed. Concurrently, the Knesset enacted the Postponement of Deadlines Law, which allows those entitled to postpone performance of contracts under particular circumstances.

The Haifa District Court recently granted a motion to certify a class action regarding the manner in which price is displayed in installment transactions and the interest charged on those installments. This ruling holds great significance for businesses seeking to levy surcharges for customer installment payment options.

It is surprising to realize Israel does not have a general regulatory binding framework for the approval of such transactions as they pertain to national security, like CFIUS in the United States , the recent UK National Security and Investment Act 2021, or similar bodies in developed countries. As a result, there are no broad cross-sector consolidated controls on foreign investments.

New provisions set out the licensing framework for the provision of payment services, designed to encourage new players to enter the Israeli market and offer payment services while providing broad protection to consumers. The law will apply to companies providing payment services, credit service providers, acquirers, and more.

At the conclusion of a proceeding conducted over about two years, an Israeli court recommended that the class plaintiffs withdraw their actions in light of the legal difficulties and since there is no reasonable possibility that the legal questions will be  ruled in favor of the plaintiffs. The plaintiffs accepted the court's recommendation, and the court dismissed in limine 66 class actions.

An amendment to the Israeli Consumer Protection Law, also known as the “Do Not Call Me Law,” is about to enter the enforcement phase on January 1, 2023. Inter alia, the law imposes liability on a business telemarketing its product or service, even if a third party is actually making the call.

The Israeli Privacy Protection Authority recently published a document presenting its position and recommendations on the privacy protection aspects pertinent to waivers of medical confidentiality and disclosures of medical information during the hiring process.

The Israeli Privacy Protection Authority has published a document containing a series of recommendations that address the use of ordinary and non-designated applications for sharing information among a variety of parties.

To make it easier for fintech companies to operate in Israel, the Knesset Finance Committee has passed regulations to exempt several types of credit providers and financial service providers from a licensing duty.

In light of the increase in fraud crimes in the digital space, the Israeli Justice Ministry has formulated recommendations for defining a policy to contend with ransomware attacks. The recommendations relate to both private entities and government bodies. The new recommendations are part of a more comprehensive examination conducted by the Justice Ministry of enforcement authorities’ handling of these cyberattacks, including regarding the provision of support to entities under attack, assistance to victims of fraud in the digital space, investigation, and enforcement.

The Israeli CMISA published two draft circulars about its intent to tighten the supervision over crypto assets, in the wake of the Celsius crypto meltdown.

This declaration will help to maintain the European Union’s continuing recognition of the State of Israel as a country whose data protection laws are on par with the European Data Protection Regulation.

Sephora, the cosmetics giant of the LVMH group, must pay a USD 1.2 million fine for failure to comply with the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), after receiving a warning from the California Attorney General and time to rectify its violations.

According to the Israeli Consumer Protection Authority’s draft directive, the disclosure obligation applies at all stages of a transaction, including when advertising and marketing an IoT product.

The publication presents the PPA’s position on the duty to inform on the collection and use of personal data (as derived from the Privacy Protection Law), specifically highlighting the duty to inform when using algorithm-based or AI-based decision-making systems.

CMISA recently published two new risk management circulars for financial service providers, including small entities.

The Israeli Privacy Protection Authority has published recommendations that organizations and companies in all sectors of the economy should appoint data protection officers, along with an instruction kit in this regard. The document was published at the end of January 2022 as part of Privacy Protection Week.

The draft bill is an important step toward achieving the objectives set by the Privacy Protection Authority and the government to increase privacy protection.

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.

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.

The block exemption for non-horizontal arrangements recently underwent a significant change. Beyond changing the name of the block exemption to “Rules of Economic Competition,” a significant amendment was introduced relating to the issue of price restraints in vertical arrangements.

The Bank of Israel published its latest annual review at the end of May. The review includes an announcement by Supervisor of Banks Yair Avidan that he is promoting the formulation of updated comprehensive regulations on environmental risk management, considering the considerable importance he attributes to the subject of the environment.

This past year has been nothing short of a rollercoaster ride for employers in Israel, in terms of both their business activities and their role as employers. Now, when we can perhaps see a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel in the form of Israel’s vaccination campaign, quite a few questions arise.

Israel’s Privacy Protection Authority published its guidelines and emphases for protecting the privacy of individuals when conducting COVID-19 epidemiological investigations in workplaces.

The Bank of Israel recently issued new rules on marketing and credit management. The purpose of the new rules is to prevent credit risks not tailored for the customer. They include restrictions on aggressive marketing and granting certain clients credit.

A recent amendment to the Consumer Protection Law seeks to place restrictions on telemarketing. As part of the amendment, the Consumer Protection and Fair Trade Authority will establish a database of consumers who don't want to receive telemarketing calls from various businesses. Businesses will not be able to contact a consumer whose telephone number is registered in this database, except in specific circumstances.

Israel’s Privacy Protection Authority has published its recommendation that every organization appoint a privacy protection supervisor. This supervisor’s task is to implement the privacy protection laws that apply to the organization. The PPA noted that although Israeli law does not impose such a duty, it is a best practice recommended for organizations that collect and analyze personal data.

A recently launched government program aims to encourage companies to publish social responsibility reports, or ESG (environmental, social, and government) responsibility reports. The Ministry of Strategic Affairs in the Prime Minister's Office announced the launch of the “Impact Nation" program, as part of a broad move to promote publication of positive economic information regarding Israeli companies, following the publication of the Israeli companies database by UN Human Rights Council.

A July decision by the Court of Justice of the European Union has established that in light of the fact the United States does not respect the privacy of its citizens in accordance with EU standards, the Privacy Shield mechanism allowing for personal data transfers between Europe and the US can no longer be relied upon. At the same time, in Israel, the Ministry of Justice has published a memorandum that constitutes the first step in adjusting existing law to the digital age.

The inter-ministerial team assembled to examine the consequences of the Covid-19 crisis on contractual agreements has recently published its recommendations.

Recently, there has been a dramatic increase in the enforcement of accessibility issues in Israel. More and more companies are facing requests for certification of class action suits for failing to make services accessible to people with disabilities. Such proceedings, exempt from court fees, are initiated by lead plaintiffs against big and small organizations, from both the private and public sectors.

Following a previous Israel Innovation Authority call for bids for companies developing technologies to help deal with the coronavirus crisis, the IIA has opened a channel to support companies facing financial hardships due to the virus.

On March 25, 2020, emergency regulations were adopted in Israel that include, among other things, an extension of the validity of regulatory approvals that expire in the near future.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Israel Innovation Authority (IIA) has issued a major easement for the companies it supports, in the manner in which payroll expenses for companies in the midst of carrying out approved plans will be recognized.

Special coronavirus-related emergency regulations were promulgated in Israel on March 21, 2020, listing specific economic activities considered as essential that are allowed to operate with fewer limitations.

The global effort to fight the spread of coronavirus has prompted new privacy related questions around the world. Much has been written for and against the use of privacy-compromising measures to protect public health. Therefore, we have chosen to concentrate on the practical implications of privacy principles on companies and businesses.

On March 18, 2020, the Israeli Ministry of Environmental Protection issued a set of guidelines for adjustments to businesses and factories with permits and licenses issued by it for toxin permits, emission permits, and business licenses with environmental conditions.

The Israeli National Cyber Security Authority published recommendations for business and organizations related to privacy protections and data security for telecommuting due to coronavirus spread.

The Governmental Cyber Security Unit has published a new directive according to which material service providers to government, infrastructure, and finance bodies will be required to adopt a common and unified standard for cyber protection.

The Bank of Israel recently led several important developments in the Israeli payments market, which are designed to encourage competition and to advance the implementation of innovative technologies.

In October 2019, Israel's Attorney General published a detailed guideline document addressed to the legal counsels of various government ministries.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (in California) recently held that the scraping of data from public websites without any prior consent is lawful, even if it contradicts the provisions of a website's terms of use.

Six months after the amendment to the Economic Competition Law took effect, the Competition Authority published its position regarding the circumstances in which even an entity with less than a 50% market share may be deemed a "monopoly holder."

Bank of Israel published a position paper with respect to the activity of banks' payment apps in the B2C market. The position paper is the conclusion of a long battle waged by credit card companies against the banks.

July 2019 brought an escalation in the enforcement of privacy infringements by companies around the world. These events underscore the trend that began with the GDPR taking effect and should lead any business entity coming across personal information.

On January 1, 2019, Israel's parliament approved an amendment to the Restrictive Trade Practices Law. This amendment seeks to deepen and focus the Antitrust Authority’s efforts to prevent activities posing potential harm to competition and to the public.

On December 25, 2018, the Israeli parliament approved the second and third readings of an amendment to the Hazardous Drugs Ordinance (Delegation of Supervisory and Enforcement Authorities Relating to Cannabis for Medicinal and Research Purposes).

Two important block exemptions have been updated recently: the exemption for joint ventures and the exemption for restraints ancillary to mergers. The amendments transfer the examination of the intensity of the harm to competition deriving from these arrangements from the Israel Antitrust Authority to the business sector.

The Israeli Privacy Protection Authority recently published a pronouncement whereby a collection of email addresses and the names of their owners also constitutes a database.

Israel’s Innovation Authority (the IIA, formerly the Office of the Chief Scientist) has issued new rules regarding the licensing of IIA-funded know-how for use by multinational corporations outside of Israel.

Over the last few days, the Privacy Protection Authority has begun sending in-depth questionnaires to various business entities for the purpose of examining these entities’ compliance with the Privacy Protection Regulations (Data Security) that came into effect on May 8, 2018.

In July 2018, the Commissioner of the Capital Market, Insurance and Savings Authority published draft guidelines that will enable P2P lending platform operators to operate a system that offers loans from their own nostro accounts.

Moments before the new supervisory regime over financial asset service providers came into effect on June 1, 2018, the Minister of Finance signed an order postponing the effective date until the earlier of the following: October 1, 2018, or the issue date of the Prohibition on Money Laundering Order that addresses financial asset service providers.

Recently, the Knesset approved a private bill that expands the scope of the “Spam Law.” The amendment is aimed at preventing the phenomenon whereby messages not necessarily commercial in nature are being sent to the general public, mainly through a robo-call system. 

The Knesset recently approved the Law for the Reduction in the Use of Cash. This law imposes bans and restrictions on the making and receiving of payments using cash and checks at the sums therein prescribed.

While some uncertainty exists with regard to the regulatory regime that applies to public offerings of digital coins (ICOs), in the area of services related to digital currencies, regulations are expected to come into effect on June 1, 2018, within the scope of the Control of Financial Services Law.

The Tel Aviv District Court recently issued its ruling in a proceeding that has been underway for several months. The proceeding concerns a fintech company who filed a motion for an injunction that would prevent a bank from unilaterally modifying the terms and conditions for the fintech company’s bank account.

The Knesset recently approved Amendment No. 5 to the Regulation of Nonbank Loans Law, which is now called the Fair Lending Law. This comes after years of deliberations and in the long wake of recommendations submitted in 2013 to increase competition in the banking system.

Recently, the Knesset approved an amendment to the Supervision of Financial Services Law, which regulates the activities of online lending platforms that broker between people and businesses under a peer-to-peer (P2P) model.

The Israel Innovation Authority (IIA) announced last week that it issued new directives regarding royalty payments and know-how transfer. These are the first significant directives to be issued by the IIA since it was established in January 2016 and the activities of the Chief Scientist were transferred to it.

Last week, the Israel Securities Authority published draft legislation for public comments that will permit corporations to obtain loans through crowdfunding with an exemption from the prospectus requirement.

The Law establishes a mandatory licensing requirement for financial service-providers – credit providers or providers of financial asset services. One of the main innovations in this Law is that Financial Services Providers will be subject, for the first time, to supervision by a new financial regulator. 

During July, the Knesset passed the Control of Financial Services (Regulated Financial Services) Law. The Law is a harbinger of efforts to regulate the provision of financial services that had not been supervised up until now, apart from certain aspects pertaining to money laundering and the Regulation of Nonbank Loans Law. The Law also unifies the handling of all matters relating to the regulation of these services under one roof.

The Antitrust Commissioner intends to renew the validity and to amend nine block exemptions.

On July 29, 2015 the Knesset passed the 7th Amendment to the Encouragement of Research and Development in the Industry Law. The purpose of the amendment is to allow the State of Israel to effectively and efficiently continue its support of the various companies which promote technological innovation and address the current challenges this industry faces in light of the importance of the high tech industry to the Israeli economy.