The Legal 500

Legal Developments in Israel

• A New Foreign Investment Vehicle in China

  Introduction Until recently, a foreign company or individual wishing to invest in China could only do so by setting up a limited liability company1 in one f the following forms: equity joint venture, cooperative joint venture or a wholly foreign owned enterprise (i.e., EJV, CJV and WFOE, collectively "FIEs").
  - Yuval Levy & Co, Law Offices & Notarie

• Protecting your Trademark in China

  Protection of trademarks is one of the most difficult legal and commercial issues with which foreign companies have to grapple while operating in China. In many cases, foreign companies start operating in China after they have already acquired a strong reputation for their products worldwide. However, when they try to file a registration application for their trademark to the Chinese trademark authorities, they suddenly discover that there has been a prior registration of an identical or similar trademark for the same or similar products/service.
  - Yuval Levy & Co, Law Offices & Notarie

• Groundbreaking Employment Law Ruling Regarding Monitoring of Employees

  Israel’s National Labour Court recently issued a significant and groundbreaking ruling regarding employers’ monitoring of employees’ emails in the workplace. This ruling is applicable and important for all businesses with employees in Israel.   HFN’s Labour and Employment Law department, led by Orly Gerbi, summarised the issue as follows:
  - Herzog Fox & Neeman

• ISRAELI NATURAL GAS SECTOR - HAS THE DREAM BECOME A REALITY?

  Adv. Amit Krispin, head of the Energy and Infrastructure department in Seligman & Co. The writer represents a large number of natural gas consumers and infrastructure companies in the industry. In 2002, shortly after the discovery of the first natural gas fields in Israeli territorial waters, the Natural Gas Act was enacted (the "Law"). The Law's stated purpose was to create suitable conditions for the development of the natural gas industry in Israel, mainly through the private sector, and to encourage competition in this industry, in accordance with Government policy in the fields of economics and energy.
  - Seligman & Co

• Israeli Infrastructure and Natural Gas Industry - Recent Highlights

  The Israeli gas industry has undergone tremendous developments in the past decade, due to the discovery of significant natural gas fields in Israeli territorial waters, the largest of which are the Tamar field, estimated at 247 billion cubic meters (“BCM”), and the Leviathan field containing 453 BCM. Currently, the “Mary B” field (20-16 BCM) is the only operative field and it provides, as of 2004, natural gas to the Israeli Electric Company (“IEC”). The recent discoveries produced a fast-growing energy market, such that in 2010, 45% of IEC electricity production was based on natural gas, compared to o% in 2003, and the overall consumption of natural gas increased by 275% between 2004-2009.
  - Gross, Kleinhendler, Hodak, Halevy, Greenberg &

• High Tech + Foreign Workers = Federal Scrutiny, Potential Sanctions and Penalties

  High tech companies who employ foreign workers in the U.S. face dramatically increased U.S. federal regulatory scrutiny since December 2010 regarding technology they disclose to foreign workers located both within the U.S. and abroad. This is likely to catch many companies by surprise, and warrants immediate attention given the sanctions described below.
  - Gross, Kleinhendler, Hodak, Halevy, Greenberg &

• Israeli Financial Markets Updates

  Pilot Program for the Encouragement of the Establishment of R&D Centers in Israel for the Service of the International Financial Community On August 16, 2010, a Directive by the Director General’s Office in the Ministry of Industry, Trade & Labor for a pilot program to be administrated by the Ministry’s Office of the Chief Scientist (“OCS”) became effective in order to develop and create a new engine of growth in the financial sector.
  - Gross, Kleinhendler, Hodak, Halevy, Greenberg &

• Israeli Corporate and Securities Law Updates

  Commencing December 15, 2010, a Financial Court has been operating in Israel as the financial department of the District Court in Tel-Aviv. The Financial Court was established according to the Courts Law (Amendment no. 59), 2010 and was founded at the inspiration of the ״Court of Chancery״ operating for many years in the State of Delaware in the U.S., which deals largely with corporate issues and is responsible for developing the case law on corporate matters.
  - Gross, Kleinhendler, Hodak, Halevy, Greenberg &

• Taking a foreign company public in Israel has its unique challenges

  Any Initial Public Offering (IPO) can be challenging. In order to be successful, the IPO process requires organization, leadership, teamwork among the various players (the company, lawyers, accountants, underwriters etc.), hard work and creative thinking. When it comes to an IPO in Israel by a non-Israeli company, the importance of all of the above becomes acute. Understanding the unique challenges of floating a non-Israeli company in Israel can help ensure a more efficient process.
  - Gornitzky & Co

• Oil and Gas Exploration in Israel

  Recent announcements regarding the discovery of commercially viable quantities of natural gas in Israel's territorial waters or economic zone in the Eastern Mediterranean Basin have led to significant activities in the Israeli market and considerable interest in oil and gas assets from abroad.
  - Herzog Fox & Neeman