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In June 2018, the Bank of Israel published a new policy for authorizing small and digital banks. The Banking Supervisor announced that new banks can have initial regulatory capital of NIS 50 million – a substantial reduction of the levels previously required.
California recently passed a sweeping consumer privacy law that significantly increases the protection provided to people whose personal information is being collected.
Coinbase, one of the leading cryptocurrency exchanges in the US, received approval from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) to list for trading digital currencies considered to be securities (security tokens). Coinbase has thus become the first US federally-regulated platform for trading security tokens.
The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office published a memorandum on the proposed Cyber Defense and National Cyber Directorate Law. This law is designed to regulate the National Cyber Directorate’s purpose, functions, and powers.
Several new consumer protection updates: the obligation to disclose post-sale delivery and service policies, the expansion of provisions regarding the scheduling of providing services at consumers’ homes, and relief in the obligation to mark apparel products.
Recently, the Knesset approved a private bill that expands the scope of the “Spam Law.” The amendment is aimed at preventing the phenomenon whereby messages not necessarily commercial in nature are being sent to the general public, mainly through a robo-call system.
This month, an Israeli district court deliberated a motion for an interlocutory order against Bank Hapoalim. The order would obligate the bank to accept the transfer into a customer’s account of money that constituted proceeds from a sale of digital coins transacted outside of Israel.
The Knesset recently approved the Law for the Reduction in the Use of Cash. This law imposes bans and restrictions on the making and receiving of payments using cash and checks at the sums therein prescribed.
Recently, after initial approval by the Finance Committee, the Knesset has passed a temporary order to the Income Tax Law with regards to deduction of issue expenses. According to the law, the expenses related to issuing the shares of companies and partnership participation units on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) will now be recognized as expenses for tax purposes.
On February 2018, the Knesset passed Amendment 66 to the Communications Law. The legislative amendment, colloquially known as “the Spam Law”, prescribes that when an ongoing transaction is terminated, a dealer will be prevented from continuing to send advertisements to the former customer, even without the consumer being required to send notice that he is opting out.
Online shopping websites not owned by Israelis, or whose owners have no registered representation in Israel (even if the website is offered in Hebrew), tend to enjoy a significant advantage over Israeli-owned websites. Namely, these foreign-owned websites operate according to the perception that they are not subject to the provisions of the Israeli Consumer Protection Law.
At the end of October 2017, the Privacy Protection Authority published a guideline about the use of surveillance cameras in the workplace and within the framework of employment relations. This guideline does not come as a surprise, as a draft of it was already published last year for public comments.
Recently, the Israel Antitrust Authority (IAA) published a memorandum of law entitled “Strengthening Enforcement and Reducing the Regulatory Burden.” At issue is a comprehensive amendment to the Restrictive Trade Practices Law.
Recently a new Amendment to the Securities Law, concerning the restructuring of the stock exchange, came into effect.
On October 18, 2017, the EU Commission published its report on the review of the functioning of the EU-US Privacy Shield, which was established to allow the transfer of personal data from the European Union to the United States.
The Ministry of Economics and Industry recently published a draft bill for an amendment to the Consumer Protection Law. This draft bill proposes placing restrictions on telemarketing.
The Knesset Labor, Welfare and Health Committee recently approved a comprehensive revision of Regulation 35 of the Accessibility to Online Services Regulations under the Equal Rights for People with Disabilities Regulations (Service Accessibility Adjustments), 2013.
The Israeli parliament has enacted new legislation that will authorize Israeli courts to issue orders that block, inter alia, online gambling website.
Apple is set to introduce a new feature in the Safari browser that will significantly reduce advertisers’ ability to collect and use personal data. The new feature, called Intelligent Tracking Prevention (ITP), imposes a 24-hour time limit on third party tracking cookies and a 30-day time limit on first party cookies.
The New York Circuit Court of Appeals ruled recently that when a new user confirms the “terms of service” and “privacy policy” on an application’s registration screen, even without perusing the legal documents provided through these links, such approval suffices to raise the user’s legal engagement with the company to the standing of a binding contract.
