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Latest Updates / Banking & Finance
July 15, 2023
Representing Aviv Group in ILS 1.1 Billion Financing Agreement
Terry Almozlino Arnon, Alon Wolner, and Nadav Shoshan represented Aviv Group in a financing agreement for the purchase of land for the construction of 733 housing units in Herzliya. The scope of the financing agreement is over NIS 1.1 billion.
May 28, 2023
Israel: Regulating Payment Services and Payment Initiation
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.
February 21, 2023
Advantage to Israeli Banks When Self-Exercising a Deposited Pledge
Collateral in the form of a deposited pledge is an easy and inexpensive way to secure credit. However, Israeli law does not allow foreign banks to benefit from an efficient and effective mechanism enabling debt recovery by way of the self-exercise of collateral. There is no real justification for this and it harms competition in the credit market.
June 16, 2022
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. Advs. Roy Engel and Samuel Henry Samuel represented Doral in the transaction, alongside McDermott Will Emery.
June 13, 2022
Bank of Israel Continues to Regulate Use of Cryptocurrencies
The risk of money laundering is one of the main risks involved in using and trading cryptocurrencies. This amendment to Proper Conduct of Banking Business Directive 411 addresses how banks should manage money laundering and terror financing risks.
April 13, 2022
Boards of Directors and Geopolitical Risks – Niv Polani Op-Ed in Calcalist
Global economic strength is adversely affected by geopolitical risks. Corporations have a duty to be prepared. Click to read Niv Polani’s Calcalist op-ed.
June 13, 2021
Bank of Israel: Environmental Considerations and Risks Should Be Part of Banking Corporations’ Risk Management
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.
November 9, 2020
Our Firm Represented CAF in Funding for Jerusalem Light Rail Project
After a year of negotiations, Jerusalem Light Rail concessionaire Shapir Engineering and its Spanish partner CAF announced the closure of a financial agreement for the construction and operation of a network of light rail lines in Jerusalem. The project's initial financing, amounting to nearly NIS 4 billion, will be led by Bank Hapoalim, with the participation of First International Bank of Israel, investment house Altshuler Shaham, and insurance company Migdal. Our firm's Simon Jaffa and Samuel Henry Samuel represented CAF in the transaction. This is CAF's first project in Israel.
August 17, 2020
Adv. Niv Polani, Retired Bank Hapoalim Executive, Joins Barnea Jaffa Lande
Adv. Niv Polani has more than thirty years of experience in the legal and banking worlds. He held several senior positions at Bank Hapoalim, one of Israel's largest banks, including Vice General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer, Vice President, and Head of Corporate Development. Niv also served as the General Counsel and Head of Regulatory Affairs of one of Israel’s leading credit card companies. Niv joins Barnea Jaffa Lande as an of counsel and will focus on developing and strengthening the firm's activities in the banking and payments fields.
July 19, 2020
NIS 600 Million Financial Closure at Etgal Power Plant
We represented a group of institutional lenders, including Psagot and Amitim, in a deal to finance Shikun Binui Group's construction and operation of a power plant in Ashdod, for approx. NIS 600 million.
Amitim and Psagot were represented by Advs. Simon Jaffa, Samuel Henri Samuel, and Rotem Orbach.
July 9, 2020
Fintech Companies: New Program to Facilitate Regulatory Reliefs
Although Israel is a world leader in the fintech field, companies operating in this area face many regulatory challenges. A newly published legal memorandum aims to enable the creation of a “sandbox”, with inspiration from various programs already implemented in Japan, Australia, and Singapore. The goal is to establish a unique experimental environment, a “regulatory sandbox,” where regulatory relief is granted to companies who choose to participate in the program.
July 7, 2020
Banks Required to Share Information about Clients with Other Financial Bodies
As part of a broad change led by the Ministry of Finance to increase competition in the banking and financial services market, a memorandum for the Provision of Financial Information Services Law was recently published for public comments.
May 20, 2020
Doing Business in Israel – Practical Law
This year, we were once again responsible for preparing the QA guide on doing business in Israel for the Practical Law website. The guide provides an overview of recent key developments that have affected doing business in Israel, including the legal system, foreign investment, employment, tax, competition, privacy, IP, etc.
May 13, 2020
Legal Options for Israeli Companies Operating in the U.S.
How Israeli companies operating in the U.S. can use COVID-19 as a force majeure and the restructuring of debt in chapter 11 bankruptcy ?
March 29, 2020
Article: Bond Market Rescue – Debt and Interest Restructuring
The coronavirus crisis is affecting both stock prices and corporate bond prices and yields in the capital market. Zohar Lande, in an article for Bizportal, explains that the Israel Securities Authority must create a “fast-track mechanism” that allows companies to choose to be included in a debt restructuring arrangement subject to the different criteria.
December 23, 2019
Latest Developments in the Israeli Payments Market
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.
November 19, 2019
Event: The Future of Money Transfers
Our firm hosted today ACC members for a seminar on money transfers. Dr. Zvi Gabbay reviewed the regulations and guidelines that exist today in Israel and around the world on the handling of money transfers. In addition, we conducted a panel discussion addressing the challenges and opportunities facing businesses who need to know how to solve problems that may arise. Participating in the panel were Anat Even-Chen, our regulation expert; Doron Cohen, CEO of Covercy; Idit Froim, General Counsel of Colu; Yitz Raab, Managing Partner of Tzur Management; Rami Sasson, Chief Compliance Officer of Discount Bank; and Ronen Siman-Tov, CTO of IBM Blockchain World Wire.
September 26, 2019
Risk Management and the Latest Word on KYC and Preventing International Money Laundering
Together with Clifford Chance, we held a workshop for compliance officers and risk management department staff at Discount Bank and Bank Leumi. The workshop included discussions on money laundering enforcement trends, banks' obligations, and how to manage risk and provide service.
July 29, 2019
Payment Apps Will Enter Small Businesses
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 4, 2019
Article: The Israeli Payments Market Remains Behind
Adv. Anat Even-Chen, a partner and our regulation expert, published an article in Globes describing the advancement of the payments market in Israel and its opening up to competition. This move requires courageous measures by regulators - the Capital Market Authority and the Bank of Israel.