Latest Updates /  Regulation

Dr. Zvi Gabbay, Head of the Capital Markets and Financial Regulation Department at Barnea was interviewed on a financial radio program at the Public Broadcasting Corporation following the investigation of the heads of Bezeq and explained how the Securities Authority is investigating. (starting at min' 12.06)

Adv. Karin Kashi from Barnea, in an article for "People and Computers" about the changes that startups need to make in relation to their privacy aspects and the expected impact on merger and acquisition deals.

Barnea, together with the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC), is hosting today an event on privacy. This is the first event in Israel discussing the implications of privacy on organizations. During the event, we will cover such topics as the new EU regulations on the protection of privacy and information and the right to financial privacy in Israel. In addition, we will discuss the recently published regulation on organizations’ database security.

In an interview with TheMarker, Our Head of the Internet Department at Barnea and Co.,  discussed the fact that regulation of online gambling companies is becoming increasingly more onerous.

In response to the emerging trend of tightening regulation on online gambling companies, we were asked to participate in an interview with TheMarker. We commented that regulation in this area comes in two forms. One is market regulation and the imposition of licensing fees, gambling taxes, and corporate tax. The second is banning online activity, imposing fines, and filing indictments.

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.

On 17/01 Barnea together with the ACC, will host an event on Privacy and Data Protection Law affecting employees in the workplace.We will lecture on the Israeli Privacy Aspects.

Adv. Asaf Shalev will serve as a mentor and participate at the Herzliya sustainable urban mobility Hackathon, which takes place on October 27th , in cooperation with the European Union.

Dr. Zvi Gabbay, Head of the Capital Markets Department at Barnea - Legal Acrobatics "In Praise of the Probability Test" - Comments and Criticism was mentioned in the recent ruling of the Supreme Court relating to the question of what knowledge is required to establish a Reporting Duty for a Company. Dr. Zvi Gabbay’s article critically examined the Africa Israel ruling, which was adopted by the Economic Department of the Tel Aviv District Court, stating that the relevant test for deciding whether the information fits into the definition of "inside information" is the "test of expectation". The Court had to decide whether the information during negotiations for a transaction had matured into "inside information" (which prevents a person having such information from trading securities, for as long as such information has not been reported to the investing public). The "test of expectation" used by the judges of the Economic Department provides that in order to determine whether a particular event in the life of the corporation is material, the probability of the event should be weighed against its expected impact on the corporation. In other words, the stronger the anticipated event is for the corporation and its business, the more information about it will be material, even if the probability of occurrence of the event is low, and vice versa. In his article, Dr. Zvi Gabbay highlighted the problem of "excessive regulation" taking place in the market, and the need to equip the capital market with practical tools that will enable the supervised bodies to deal appropriately with the reporting duties imposed on them by the Securities Authority. The solution to this issue, according to Dr. Zvi Gabbay, lies in the development of the "agreement in principle" test. According to this test, information on a transaction will be material and must be reported only when agreement has been reached between the parties with regard to the main details of the transaction. The "agreement in principle" test will provide the supervised bodies with an easier, simpler, and more convenient tool for assessing the information related to their ongoing activity, while increasing certainty in the market.