Client updates / Regulation

In October of this year, the Israel Securities Authority published a memorandum of law aimed at regulating broker-dealer activities in Israel. Public comments will be accepted until 21/11/24. At issue is an initiative that the ISA and the Ministry of Finance have been trying to promote for several years since the publish of the previous […]

The Tel Aviv District Court handed down an important ruling recently regulating the activities of entities distributing alternative investments in Israel. In many instances, the distribution activities are accompanied by conversations and correspondence with potential investors, which constitute investment advice, and this is where matters become complicated.

The Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) is an EU regulatory framework, aimed at enhancing the financial sector’s ability to withstand and recover from ICT (information and communication technology) disruptions.

The Israel Securities Authority recently published a draft of a new directive for payment companies and holders of basic initiation licenses or approvals regarding reporting to the Authority. According to the Draft, payment companies and holders of basic initiation licenses or approvals are required to submit annual, semi-annual, quarterly, and immediate reports on various topics, such as audited or reviewed financial data, operational data, compliance with capital requirements, technological measures, corporate governance, compliance etcetera.

The Israel Securities Authority has published several additional revisions to the Israeli money market reform since the Knesset approved legislative amendments designed to promote competition in the money market, and since the draft directives and rules were published approximately two months ago. The money market reform relates to money market mutual funds, deposits and government bonds (short-term loans maturing in no more than one year).

The Privacy Protection Authority has issued a mandatory guideline holding the board of directors fully responsible for information security, with heavy fines for violations. The guideline requires the board to oversee compliance with regulations and develop organizational policies, particularly for entities processing sensitive personal data.

Recently, the Consumer Protection and Fair-Trade Authority issued a position paper regarding the disclosure obligations businesses must meet when making changes to product characteristics or components. According to the position paper, any material change in a product’s characteristics or components must be clearly and prominently displayed on the product itself, allowing the consumer to make an informed decision regarding the product. This is because consumers typically do not recheck a product’s features or ingredients, when they purchase it regularly.

The Knesset approved a series of legislative amendments this past July designed to promote competition in the money market – money market mutual funds, deposits and government bonds (short-term loans maturing in less than one year) – and to enable the general public to achieve higher returns on its short-term savings.

The U.S. court is hearing artists’ lawsuits against AI platforms for copyright infringement. The decision could lead to new regulations and insights into the impact of using protected works for training.

This year, the Israeli Capital Market, Insurance and Savings Authority issued a series of new and revised circulars regarding proper management and corporate responsibility by financial service providers.

Following the Financial Action Task Force’s announcements, the Israel Money Laundering and Terror Financing Prohibition Authority published a list of countries and jurisdictions at high risk of money laundering, terror financing, and proliferation financing.

The Bank of Israel’s Payment Systems Oversight Division recently published an access guide to supervised payment systems for Israeli and foreign applicants.

The uptrend in warning letters, enforcement proceedings, and motions to certify class actions against manufacturers and importers obligated to achieve defined recycling targets by virtue of the Processing of Packaging Law is likely to intensify, inter alia, because filing such motions does not involve paying a fee.

The recent reform of the Privacy Protection Law aligns Israel’s privacy regulations more closely with European standards.

Israel’s Privacy Protection Authority has published a draft opinion clarifying its interpretation regarding transfers of personal data from Israel to other countries. According to this interpretation, such transfers of personal data are generally permitted only if the receiving country ensures a level of data protection equivalent to that of Israel.

When the law came into effect last month, the Knesset Economic Affairs Committee prescribed an important series of exemptions from licensing requirements and updated timetables for submitting license applications in particular instances.

Until now, the HHS guidance provided a very broad interpretation of what constituted “protected health information” (PHI). This interpretation severely restricted data analytics service providers’ ability to cater to hospitals and for hospitals to manage their digital assets, in addition to exposing them to class action lawsuits. A federal court’s ruling to vacate the guidance is expected to facilitate both service providers and hospitals.

A new Israeli Supreme Court ruling states that, in particular instances, Israeli law will apply to engagements and agreements, even if those agreements stipulate that foreign law applies to them. In its decision, the court also issued several significant rulings that could affect commercial relations, in instances when cogent provisions of law apply.

The Dutch Data Protection Authority strictly interprets GDPR regarding data scraping, stating that data scraping will almost always be illegal.

An Israeli court ordered the McDonald’s fast food chain to pay ILS 40,000 to Maayan Parti, a consumer reporter for Israel’s Channel 12 News, after McDonald’s used the reporter’s name without her consent in an advertising campaign for the chain’s ice cream.