Financial

First step on the collision course between the Israeli government and the judiciary system - on the way to canceling the reason for reasonableness and enacting the superseding clause by a majority of 61. Justice Minister Yariv Levin (Likud) held a press conference in the Knesset this evening (Wednesday), where he presented the main points of his legal reform. Several key sections of the reform focus on weakening the judiciary and the Supreme Court

Bank Leumi announces what it defines as a "unique and groundbreaking consumer move in the banking system": private customers with a current account at Leumi will enjoy an annual interest rate of 1% on the plus balance in the account - a significant benefit that does not exist in any other bank in Israel. The interest will be paid on a current account balance of up to NIS 10,000 to salary transfer customers with a mortgage at Leumi, or to salary transfer customers with a monthly transaction turnover of at least NIS 3,000 on a Leumi credit card or to salary transfer customers with a...

Marking the prices on stickers on products, which the marketing chains were required to do about 25 years ago, is one of their most hated obligations. Again and again, the networks tried to cancel the obligation, which they claim imposes heavy costs on them, and does not exist in any country except Israel. Now, it seems that the pressure of the networks is going to bear fruit. Next week, a memorandum of law (a draft of a government bill) will be published for public comment that will propose to cancel the labeling on the stickers, provided that the price appears on the shelf, next to the...

The Israeli Viola Group, which invests in about 150 startups, is launching a center in Abu Dhabi that will employ development workers for technology companies from around the world. This is an unusual step for Viola, whose main activity is the company's venture capital funds. The project is a collaboration of the group together with two local entities: ADIO, the Emirati Ministry of Investment, and G42, a technology company from Abu Dhabi, which deals in artificial intelligence and cloud computing. Both entities already employ hundreds of technological workers in the region, and they are...

The department in charge of wages at the Ministry of Finance contacted all government bodies, clarifying that workers in public workplaces who do not join the framework agreement will be forced to return in August the NIS 6,000 salary increase they received in March. The measure is intended to put pressure on workers' committees to sign the framework agreement with the state, although its final text has not yet been fully agreed upon and is not known. The framework agreement for the wages of public sector workers, established at the beginning of March, established a gradual wage increase...

The scope of the use of digital wallets and smart watches reached a peak of NIS 3.2 billion in May: 2.7 times compared to its scope in May 2022, according to SBA data, which develops and manages the national credit card payment system in Israel. Two years ago, in May 2021, Apple Pay entered Israel and was the first international company operating in the field. In the months before that, a number of local digital wallets were operating, but the scope of use was only tens of millions, and when Apple Pay was introduced, the scope of use was only 150 million shekels

The absolute majority of small businesses take advantage of the credit line given to them by the bank. From an inspection conducted by the fintech company Bizzy in the first quarter of 2023, it emerged that 97% of the small businesses took advantage of the credit limit that was given to them, and only 3% did not take advantage of it. The inspection included almost 1,000 bank accounts of about 800 small businesses. The sample data also shows that the effective credit cost increased by 14% during the quarter. Thus, while the cost that the small business pays for the credit line amounted to...

The bill proposing that the banks will be required to pay interest on the current account, which has already passed the committee of ministers and was supposed to go up for a preliminary vote in the plenary on Wednesday, is dropped from the agenda at this stage. Member of Knesset Yanon Azoulai (one of the bill's presenters), announced that "after consultation with Shas movement chairman Rabbi Aryeh Deri, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, and coalition chairman Ofir Katz, it was decided to wait with raising the bill, which would oblige the banks To pay interest on the current account...

The data of the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) show that the average salary for an Israeli salaried position in April of this year was NIS 12,622, an increase of about 4.7% compared to April 2022 - similar to the inflation rate. Thus the average salary for a salaried position at constant prices (deducted by the price index to the monthly consumer) decreased by 0.2% relative to April of last year and stood at NIS 10,874

Stoa, an Israeli-American start-up company specializing in real estate solutions, has recently announced significant reductions in its activities. The company has laid off most of its employees, with only about 20 individuals remaining out of its original workforce of approximately 100 employees. Stoa, which has not hired workers in Israel since the COVID-19 pandemic, is also halting its expansion and development efforts and is exploring offers to sell its assets and operations. The company currently owns hundreds of real estate properties in the United States