Companies Law 1999
The governing statute for Israeli corporate formation, governance, fiduciary duties, and shareholder rights — the foundation of Israeli corporate law.
The Companies Law 1999 (Chok HaChavarot) replaced the British Mandate-era Companies Ordinance and governs every aspect of Israeli corporate life: formation, articles of association, board duties, shareholder rights, related-party transactions, mergers, and dissolution. It establishes the fiduciary duties of directors (duty of care, duty of loyalty) and the rules for derivative actions — the Israeli framework for shareholder lawsuits against management. For cross-border dealmakers, the key provisions are Chapter 5 (mergers and arrangements), the controlling-shareholder approval rules (which are stricter than US equivalents), and the related-party transaction regime that requires audit-committee and board approval with independent-director veto rights. The ISA enforces the securities-disclosure layer; the Registrar of Companies enforces the corporate-filing layer. Together with the Securities Law 1968, the Companies Law 1999 forms the two-statute foundation of Israeli corporate and capital-markets regulation.