FEBRUARY 2012 | Natalie Jacobs, Perry Wildes

DECEMBER 2011

The Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") announced this month an abrupt change to a long-standing policy permitting initial registration statements of foreign private issuers ("FPIs") to be filed on a confidential basis. What was the old SEC rule regarding confidential foreign filings?

MAY 2011

On March 7, 2011, the Knesset adopted Amendment No. 16 (the “Amendment”) to the Israeli Companies Law, 1999 (the “Law”) which became effective on May 14, 2011. The Amendment puts particular emphasis on the principles of independence of directors and external directors, strengthening the status of institutional investors and minority shareholders in public companies and the appointment of external directors in order to better balance the power of the controlling shareholders to influence the management of the company.

APRIL 2011 | Rona Bergman Naveh

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.

MARCH 2011

Financial Court in Israel 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.