In a special edition of the latest bi-monthly magazine, Israel Desks, we explore the unprecedented impact of the Coronavirus pandemic on Israeli and global law firms and their clients. Managing and Senior Partners, amongst Israel's leading law firms discuss what issues have concerned clients and how they have been coping. We also talk to leaders in Germany, Italy, UK, U.S., Poland and China to find out how they have been handling this crisis and what legal advice their clients have been seeking.
Israel recently enacted a new Insolvency Law, which came into effect in September 2019. The statute substantially revises procedures and substantive rights in connection with corporate insolvency and bankruptcy. The law may allow debtor licensors more flexibility to terminate intellectual property license agreements.
Background and Analysis
The coronavirus and the resultant global crisis will most certainly have a strong impact on commercial contracts and economies throughout the world. The broad paralysis of the Israeli (and global) markets could, without a doubt, "push" a broad range of companies to the "edge of a cliff", due to the harm incurred as a result of their inability to meet their commercial obligations, such as credit terms or the provision of services or goods.
On July 14, 2014 the Tel Aviv District Court rendered its decision with regard to an application filed in the case of Dayan v. Ganden Holdings Ltd., concerning IDB Holdings Corporation Ltd., formerly part of the consortium owned by business tycoon Nochi Dankner ("the Company").
* This article was first published by INSOL International on April 17, 2015.
Israel has seen an upsurge in the number of debt settlements in recent years including the involvement of the movers and shakers in the Israeli market such as the IDB Group, one of Israel’s prominent business groups, holding a diversified network of leading corporations in key business sectors.
Courts have held that the Bankruptcy Code's avoidance powers do not apply extraterritorially, SIPC v. Bernard L Madoff Inv. Sec. LLC ("Madoff"),480 B.R. 501 (Bankr. S.D. N.Y. 2012); Barclay v. Swiss Fin. Corp Ltd., 347 B.R. 708 (Bankr. C.D. Cal. 2006); Societe Generale plc v. Maxwell Commc'n Corp plc "Maxwell I"),186 B.R. 807 (S.D.N.Y. 1995) and others have found to the contrary, Weisfelner v. Blavatnik (In re Lyondell),543 B.R. 127 (Bankr. S.D.N.Y. 2016); Sec. Investor Prot. Corp. v. BLMIS (In re BLMIS) , 513 B.R. (S.D.N.Y.
Insolvency proceedings are an integral part of business-commercial activities, in circumstances whereby a person or corporation might need to institute proceedings to rehabilitate its business activities or even to liquidate the company.
Insolvency reflects a factual situation in which a debtor (person or corporation) encounters economic and cash flow difficulties to the extent that the debtor is incapable of paying its debts to creditors on time.
Over the past few years, there has been an increase in corporate entities in Israel facing a financial crisis leading them either into liquidation or forcing them into a recovery process. Israeli law provides various tools with which to handle such situations. This article provides an outline of the key principles of insolvency proceedings in Israel, the legal tools available to Israeli corporations in financial crisis, creditor rights in such proceedings, and the legislative changes expected in this area. By Yuval Bargil, partner and Gil Oren, partner at Yigal Arnon & Co.
Recently, the Knesset has passed the Law of Insolvency and Economic Rehabilitation – which is aimed at updating the law on insolvency currently in effect in Israel.
The insolvency laws as they stand today are regulated under archaic legislation, in addition to being outdated and disorganized. This has been detrimental for debtors, creditors, and the entire economy alike. The new Law is designed to rectify the situation and provide the Israeli economy with modern legislation with respect to insolvency.
The Law has three primary objectives: