Search by Practice
Latest Updates / Antitrust and Competition
February 12, 2017
Foreign Companies are Immune to Private Antitrust Enforcement in Israel
Despite the growing sensitivity to violations of the competition laws and the uptrend in the imposition of stricter penalties by the authorities in respect thereof, business managers and consumers who have fallen victims to competition-law offenses in Israel hesitant in instituting civil proceedings against offenders.
February 12, 2017
Shufersal Sets its Sights on Drug Store Chain New-Pharm
Adv. Ilan Blumenfeld, Partner in the Antitrust department at Barnea was interviewed by The Marker following Shufersal, Israel's largest supermarket chain’s announcement that it is in the early stages of examining the possibility of acquiring local drugstore chain, New-Pharm Drugstores. Ilan commented that in the event that Shufersal acquires New Pharm, the Antitrust Authority will have to approve the deal by examining the market power of the merged entity.
February 5, 2017
Doing Business in Israel – Practical Law
Doing Business in Israel? A QA guide to doing business in Israel written by Barnea was published in the Practical Law website. The guide gives an overview of the legal system, foreign investment, regulation, and other issues pertaining to Israel.
January 16, 2017
Israel Antitrust Authority Publishes Draft Statement regarding Vertical Price Arrangements – Resale Price Maintenance (RPM)
A few days ago, the Israeli Antitrust Authority published a draft statement presenting its position with regard to the circumstances under which a supplier will be able to dictate the resale price of its products to its distributor for the next link in the supply chain (Resale Price Maintenance arrangements – RPM), without such an arrangement being considered an illegal restrictive arrangement.
December 13, 2016
Restrictive Arrangement in an Agreement May Possibly Lead to Nullification of the Entire Agreement
District Court rules that an unlawful restrictive provision can lead to cancellation of a 40 years agreement.
September 28, 2016
Bond Terms – Negative Pledge Relating to Floating Charges
A customary practice in the credit market makes the provision of financing for a corporation contingent upon the creation of a floating charge on all of its assets in favor of the financier. In most instances, the bond terms relating to the lien also include a ”negative pledge” – a restrictive stipulation that prohibits a corporation from creating additional liens without receiving the financier’s prior written approval.
June 19, 2016
Antitrust – New Amendments to Nine Block Exemptions
The Antitrust Commissioner intends to renew the validity and to amend nine block exemptions.
March 10, 2016
Antitrust Update
Recently the Israeli Antitrust Authority has stepped up its enforcement measures, and the local Courts began imposing stricter penalties on violations of the Antitrust Law.
February 9, 2016
TheMarker magazine interviewed Zohar Lande for his comments on Israel's next antitrust chief
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, has appointed Adv. Michal Halperin to be Israel's next antitrust chief. TheMarker magazine interviewed leading legal experts on antitrust Law, and asked them for their comments on this appointment. Zohar Lande commented: "One of the most significant challenges Adv. Halperin will face is maintaining the delicate balance between the continued encouragement of foreign companies that seek to enter and invest in the Israeli economy and the Israeli consumer who is grappling with the day-to-day cost of living".
October 30, 2014
Antitrust Chief, Prof. David Gilo Encourages Consumer Boycotts
In a meeting held by the Knesset Finance Committee on the high cost of living, Antitrust Commissioner Prof. David Gilo called on consumers to organize boycotts to pressure retailers and manufacturers to reduce their prices.
He said: “An occasional boycott is not enough. Consumers need to undertake a personal boycott every day, to vote with their feet and compare competing prices.” Zohar Lande senior partner at Barnea Co, disagrees.
Zohar was interviewed by Maariv newspaper where he was quoted for saying "it is both unfair and unwise to ask the consumers to fix the high cost of living".
October 5, 2014
2014 Legal Highlights
This year’s summary of Maariv puts the spotlight on key legal developments in Israel, covering the following topics: Capital Markets (by Micky Barnea); Anti-Trust (by Zohar Lande); Constitutional Law; Criminal Law nfrastructure ; Tax and Money laudering
February 10, 2014
Israel: Break up shake-up
Legislation intended to loosen the stranglehold of a few conglomerates on the economy is set to trigger a surge in sell-offs and overseas interest.
January 5, 2014
Opinion - Privatization pursuant to Encouragement of Competition and the Reduction of Concentration law
The article below addresses the privatization chapter of the newly enacted law for the encouragement of competition and reduction of concentration in the Israeli market. The chapter inter alia restricts the State from granting rights to and engaging with entities, which already have received rights from the state and thus deemed to be "concentrational".
Adv. Lande argues that the chapter is far reaching, leads to uncertainty in the market and may prevent the effective allocation of rights in the future, all of which will have a detrimental effect on the market. To read more, please click here
December 29, 2013
Michael Barnea was participate in a panel of Competition experts - by Calcalist
After the Law for the Encouragement of Competition and the Reduction of Concentration was enacted, Calcalist convened a panel of experts, including Michael Barnea, in order to discuss the powers of the Antitrust Commissioner.