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October 6, 2016
Israeli Leadership in Water Technologies
Despite the fact that water covers three quarters of Earths surface, countries all over the world suffer from potential or current water shortages. Water consumption well outpaces supply, particularly in arid nations that struggle to meet their agricultural water needs. Israel, as a nation more than 50 percent covered in desert, has grappled with this problem since its beginnings. The technologies it has developed in response allow it to flourish, and it is doing more every year to expand those technologies around the world.
October 6, 2016
Israeli Army May Crack Down on Ex-Soldiers Profiting from Tech Expertise
Adv. Yuval Lazi, Partner at Barnea was interviewed by the Times of Israel regarding a new policy the Israeli army is mulling that would regulate the technologies and the expertise soldiers can use once they leave. Yuval commented that the rights to any intellectual property that a soldier has developed or produced during his time in the army — patents, lines of code or even photos — belong to the army and not to the individual.
October 5, 2016
Cross Border Mergers and Acquisitions 2016 - Virtual Roundtable
Corporate Live Wire held a Cross border Mergers and Acquisitions roundtable featured experts from around the world, including Adv. Ariella Dreyfuss. The chosen experts discussed regulatory changes, legislative precedent, challenges and opportunities as well as key trends and latest developments.
September 30, 2016
Barnea & Co. Represented the Private Equity Fund IGP Investment in Jacada
Barnea represented Israel Growth Partners (IGP) in an agreement to buy 300,000 Jacada shares, 7% of the company's share capital, from Robert (Bob) Ashton's investment firm Kinetic Catalyst Partners.
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.
September 22, 2016
Class Actions in Israel- Overview and Contemporary Trends
The Israeli Class Action Law came into force in 2006, and formally regulates the proceedings applying to class actions in Israel. This type of action was available in Israel before 2006, but was much less developed. Since the advent of the Law, class actions have become a favored path of pursuing litigation where the damage caused to a single plaintiff is not significant and would usually not result in a claim against the party which caused the damage. The majority of class actions filed in Israel are consumer claims against corporate entities.
September 22, 2016
Barnea & Co. Represents GBI Racing
Adv. Zohar Lande, Head of the Litigation department at Barnea is representing GBI Racing, a British company which provides betting services to Toto (the Israel Sports Betting Board). The company applied to the Minister of Finance, Moshe Kahlon, to reconsider the decision to ban horse racing wagering, which was approved by a government committee chaired by treasury Director General, Shai Babad. The company contends that it was never given the opportunity to present other data to the committee on its behalf.
September 21, 2016
Deadline Extension for Making Internet Websites and Mobile Applications Accessible to People With Disabilities
A few days ago the Knesset Labor, Welfare and Health Committee enacted an amendment to Section 35 of the website accessibility regulations, called "the Equal Rights for People with Disabilities (Service Accessibility Adjustments) Regulations 5773-2013" (the “Regulations”).
September 15, 2016
Capital Markets 2016 - Virtual Roundtable
Corporate Live Wire held a Capital Markets Roundtable featured experts from around the world, including Dr. Zvi Gabbay. The chosen experts discussed the latest regulatory changes, global economic risks, cyber security challenges and capital flow trends.
September 13, 2016
How Brexit Might Affect the UK's Environmental and Energy Law
The European Union (EU) has driven environmental policy across Europe since its inception in 1992. With the United Kingdoms (UK) referendum of withdrawal from the EU, though, how it responds in its energy and environmental legal and regulatory structure could affect not only the UK, but the European and even the global marketplace.
September 7, 2016
Construction Site Collapse in Tel Aviv
We were interviewed by Ynet following the collapsed parking structure in the Ramat Hahayal neighborhood in northern Tel Aviv. We commented that the function of the project manager is not defined in the Planning and Building Law. There are many responsibilities and it is not clear who is responsible for what.
September 5, 2016
For the First Time, Tax Relief Has Been Approved for Contributions to an Israeli NPO Operating Abroad
In an unprecedented action, the Knesset Finance Committee has recently recognized an Israeli organization operating abroad as a ‘public institution’ pursuant to section 46 of the Israeli Income Tax Ordinance. Such recognition affords the non-profit organization, a tax benefit, by way of a tax credit to donors for their donations granted to that organization.
September 1, 2016
Fathers Granted Right to Paternity Leave - Marie Tsion for Walla
Adv. Marie Tzion, Partner and Head of the Employment department, published an opinion article in Walla Business, following the recently passed amendment, which granted fathers the right to paternity leave at the expense of already existing leave entitlements.
August 31, 2016
EU: Apple ordered to Pay Ireland 13 Billion Euros in Taxes
Harel Perlmutter was interviewed yesterday by leading newspapers regarding the EU Commission’s order against Apple to pay 13 billion Euros ($14.5 billion) to Ireland in respect of unpaid taxes. According to Perlmutter, Apple could be hit with billions of dollars in assessments for back taxes after this landmark decision.
August 31, 2016
Amendment to the “Anti-Spam Law”
The Knesset's new anti-spam legislation includes any advertisement disseminated to the public at large that asks for a contribution or that constitutes non-commercial propaganda.
August 30, 2016
Trademark Protection: Registration and Enforcement
Part of how any company moves from startup to growing and thriving is to create a recognizable brand under which it operates. The brand provides a way to distinguish yourself with customers, and it all begins with images that you use to represent yourselfand no one elseto the world. To prevent others from using the same or similar images, though, you need to obtain trademark protection. A trademark is a kind of intellectual property protection that lets you defend your marketing ground against others who want to benefit from your symbols and imagery.
August 30, 2016
Apple Must Pay 13 Billion Euros in Back Taxes to Ireland
Adv. Harel Perlmutter, Head of the Tax Department at Barnea, was interviewed by several media following the European Union's ruling that Apple was given illegal tax benefits over two decades, therefore will need to pay 13 billion Euros in back taxes in Ireland.
August 29, 2016
Extension Order Increasing the Allocations to Pension Insurance and Amendment to the Control of Financial Services
After about a year of uncertainty about the pension insurance allocation ratios according to Amendment number 12 to the Control of Financial Services (Provident Funds) Law of August 2015, the matter has recently been resolved.
August 28, 2016
Amendment of the Income Tax Ordinance – Information Exchange Between Tax Authorities
An amendment to the Income Tax Ordinance that was recently enacted obligates financial institutions to identify the residency and citizenship of their foreign account holders. The financial institutions are required to report the information to the Israel Tax Authority, so that the ITA can then relay that information to the relevant foreign tax authority.