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The Bank of Israel recently led several important developments in the Israeli payments market, which are designed to encourage competition and to advance the implementation of innovative technologies.
In October 2019, Israel’s Attorney General published a detailed guideline document addressed to the legal counsels of various government ministries.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (in California) recently held that the scraping of data from public websites without any prior consent is lawful, even if it contradicts the provisions of a website’s terms of use.
Regulatory resistance and legal proceedings by the US Securities and Exchange Commission are hindering the realization of one of the greatest promises of blockchain technology – the transfer of cryptographic currencies and assets between users without an intermediary.
The Hellenic Data Protection Authority (HDPA) recently imposed a EUR 150,000 fine on the international consulting firm PwC for its violations of the new European data protection regulations (the General Data Protection Regulations, or GDPR).
The Israel Securities Authority recently published a staff position that has material implications on the hedge fund sector in Israel and on the investor public, including the mode of incorporation of hedge funds and the limit on the number of investors in a fund.
Bank of Israel published a position paper with respect to the activity of banks’ payment apps in the B2C market. The position paper is the conclusion of a long battle waged by credit card companies against the banks.
July 2019 brought an escalation in the enforcement of privacy infringements by companies around the world. These events underscore the trend that began with the GDPR taking effect and should lead any business entity coming across personal information.
On April 7, 2019, the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) published a proposed amendment to the Stock Exchange Regulations, whereby the barriers to the entry of new TASE members will be removed and for the first time Israeli entities will be allowed entry into the stock exchange even if they operate exclusively for nostro.
Applicants who submit a permit application on or before May 30, 2019, may continue to offer brokerage under the previous ISA regime until receiving a decision on their application.
The committee appointed by the Israel Securities Authority (ISA) to examine regulation of cryptocurrency offerings to the public has published the outline of its regulatory policy in a final report submitted to the ISA chairman. The committee recommended focusing on regulatory models that offer structural flexibility.
Eight months after the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulations came into force, the French regulator issued Google a EUR 50 million fine, the highest fine issued so far under the GDPR.
On January 1, 2019, Israel’s parliament approved an amendment to the Restrictive Trade Practices Law. This amendment seeks to deepen and focus the Antitrust Authority’s efforts to prevent activities posing potential harm to competition and to the public.
Chapter 8 of the new Insolvency and Economic Rehabilitation Law addresses the liability of officers and functionaries. The law’s main innovation is that – beyond liabilities toward the corporation, which already existed prior to the enactment of the law, such as fiduciary duty and duty of care – special liability will also be imposed on the corporation’s officers and functionaries.
The Israel Securities Authority published an announcement to investors with various emphases about public companies operating in the medical cannabis market. Its announcement calls investors’ attention to several parameters they should consider when deciding whether to invest in securities of public companies operating, or expecting to begin operating, in the medical cannabis market.
On December 25, 2018, the Israeli parliament approved the second and third readings of an amendment to the Hazardous Drugs Ordinance (Delegation of Supervisory and Enforcement Authorities Relating to Cannabis for Medicinal and Research Purposes).
The Israeli Privacy Protection Authority recently published a pronouncement whereby a collection of email addresses and the names of their owners also constitutes a database.
Recently, the UK Information Commissioner’s Office decided to take action against a non-European entity following an alleged breach of the GDPR.
In light of the increasing magnitude and scope of cyber threats, as well as growing concerns about disruptions to public companies’ operations, the Israel Securities Authority (ISA) has published a Staff Position Statement addressing public companies’ required disclosures for all cyber-related issues.
Both Brazil and India have recently passed new privacy protection laws. These laws may also apply to Israeli companies doing business in the countries.
