Latest Updates /  International Sanctions

Dr. Zvi Gabbay, Head of the Capital Markets Department at Barnea, in an opinion article following the decision of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to file a civil suit in a federal court against two Israeli residents who traded in Mobileye's stock and options before and after the merger announcement with Intel Corp.  Dr. Gabbay commented that the case which the SEC has formulated against the two Israelis on suspicion of using insider trading information is in the meantime very circumstantial.

Our firm lectured today on employment aspects for startups at the AtoBe – Azrieli College of Engineering Startup Accelerator.

Barnea represented Avgol Industries 1953 Ltd in connection with the issuance of a new series of bonds in the amount of NIS 197 Million. Avgol is one of the biggest manufacturers in the world of non-woven fabrics for the hygiene market. Its securities are traded in the leading indices on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.

Dr. Zvi Gabbay, Head of the Capital Markets Department at Barnea was interviewed by The Marker following the approval of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (‘HKSE’) Israel as an ‘Acceptable Jurisdiction’. Zvi commented that the HKSE’s approval is currently limited to foreign listed Israeli public companies and Israeli private companies seeking a listing on the HKSE and it could also translate into cost savings for such companies.

Barnea represented a group of investors, led by Viola Credit, in the acquisition of Negev Ceramics from creditor banks. Viola was represented by Adv. Michael Barnea, Adv. Ilan Blumenfeld, and Adv. Sagi Gross.

Barnea, together with Nisha Global, will host today a seminar on how to overcome common recruitment challenges when branching out globally to foreign markets. Adv. Marie Tsion, Partner and Head of the Employment Department, will lecture on the legal aspects relating to the activity of a company abroad.

Barnea, together with the patent firm, Ehrlich Fenster, will host today a seminar geared towards entrepreneurs who are launching an AI startup. Adv. Micky Barnea, will lecture on the legal and governance implications of AI.

Adv. Zohar Lande, Adv. Jacques Gershoni and Adv. Yatir Madar from the Litigation Department at Barnea, succeeded in cancelling an arbitration ruling in the Tel Aviv District Court, a cancellation which was then upheld by the Supreme Court. The parties had appointed an arbitrator to hear and rule on a specific dispute between them. After the arbitrator had issued an arbitration award which had been fully carried out by both parties, the arbitrator joined forces with one of the parties, while attempting to ignore the arbitration award, which had already been carried out, with the aim of unilaterally issuing a new arbitration ruling. In fact, the new arbitration ruling overturned the original award, which, as noted, had been fully carried out by the parties. The party with whom the arbitrator had cooperated (the “other party’’), relying on the new arbitration ruling, filed a dual application to the Tel Aviv District Court - one for the approval of the new arbitration award and the second for the temporary imposition of liens on the property of Barnea’s client. Barnea's litigation team succeeded in obtaining an order for cancellation of the new arbitration award. The Court clarified that the new arbitration award was given without authority, because it exceeded the limits of the authorization defined by the parties and because it contradicted a previous ruling of the arbitrator. The other party did not accept the ruling of the District Court and chose to submit a motion for leave to appeal the ruling of the Tel Aviv District Court to the Supreme Court, as well as a request for temporary remedies in the appeal. Barnea filed a firm response to the other party’s request for temporary relief, in which it was made clear that the need to impose temporary liens was never examined on its merits in the District Court, and elaborated on the fact that the request for leave to appeal the judgment of the District Court lacked any basis both in law and in fact. The Supreme Court denied the motion for leave to appeal and instructed the other party to pay Barnea's client's legal fees and expenses. "It is known that the annulment of an arbitration award is a rare occurrence, and that it does not happen routinely," commented Adv. Zohar Lande, Head of the Litigation Department at Barnea. "This rejection by the Supreme Court actually means the upholding of the District Court’s  ruling,  the cancellation of the new arbitration award and, accordingly, the cancellation of the temporary remedies imposed on the assets of our client”.

Adv. Ariella Dreyfuss, Partner at Barnea will lecture today at the Radzyner Law School in IDC Herzliya, as part of the tutoring program Olim Le’Mishpatim, which aims at providing non-native Hebrew speakers with extra lessons in legal courses.

Barnea represented Viola Private Equity in an investment of USD 50 million in Similar Web, a leading digital market intelligence platform that provides insights for websites and applications.

Barnea represented a group of US underwriters, led by H.C. Wainwright , LLC, in the process of submission of Medigus Ltd. of a prospectus for the Nasdaq listing. Medigus raised USD 7.5 million and will be traded on Nasdaq in parallel with its listing on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. Medigus Ltd is an Israel-based company active in the medical sector. It specializes in developing endoscopic procedures and devices.

Barnea together with the UK Israel Tech Hub are hosting today a delegation from the UK, who will be visiting Israel for the first time in order to look for investment and cooperation opportunities, mainly in the Mobility field.

Adv . Zohar Lande, Head of the Litigation Department at Barnea was interviewed by Globes on the Antitrust Authority's decision to impose an unprecedented monetary sanction on the Central Bottling Company Group (Coca Cola Israel). Zohar commented that it is not enough to set the monetary sanctions, submitting that the Antitrust Authority must make use of all the tools at its disposal, including the civilian tools.

Adv. Yuval Lazi, Partner at Barnea, interviewed by the blog 'Talks about Entrepreneurship' discussed the importance of Founders Agreements. Yuval discussed the risk of failure to make a founding agreement, in regard to how much it costs and how long the process takes.