Client updates /  Regulation

The Registrar of NPOs issued updated regulatory relief to NPOs, NGOs and public benefit companies regarding their activities during the special state of emergency declared in Israel.

Upon the launch of Operation Rising Lion last Friday, the Minister of Defense declared a special national state of emergency in conformity with the Civil Defense Law, 1951. On Sunday, the government extended the state of emergency until June 30, 2025.

The Israel Securities Authority (ISA) recently published a report summarizing its findings regarding offerings of securities without a prospectus. The report is intended for entities planning to offer securities to the public and presents the ISA’s position regarding the criteria for various exemptions enabling entities to offer securities without a prospectus.

The Ministry of Health published a new outline recently, which is designed to shorten the registration time frames for new drugs. The outline is based on higher cooperation between the Ministry of Health and leading drug registration authorities around the world, while relying on approvals issued in other countries.

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.

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.

Companies which distribute content online have been subject to the European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA) since February 2024, which obligates them to protect their users from offensive and illegal content, enable users to report such content, etc. The DSA applies to any company whose content is accessible to European audience, regardless of its country of incorporation or the identity of its owners.

The new rules will require managers of large hedge funds to disclose additional information about their activities and strategies and provide more detail about their investments, including the countries and industries in which they are invested, leverage exposures, and more. As expected, fund managers are objecting, arguing that the new requirements will lead to superfluous information overload.

The United States is looking to institute rules for the safe development and use of artificial intelligence, to regulate government use of AI, and to establish its leadership in the AI field.

The Haifa District Court recently granted a motion to certify a class action regarding the manner in which price is displayed in installment transactions and the interest charged on those installments. This ruling holds great significance for businesses seeking to levy surcharges for customer installment payment options.