June Edition 2021

33 ’Moderate adverse economic impact,’ according to Bank of Israel According to the Bank of Israel, it is high-tech’s ‘notable share in Israel’s economy’ [that] is one of the factors in the ‘moderate adverse economic impact’ of the COVID-19 crisis in Israel relative to that inmany other advanced economies. Since the turn of the year, as the vaccine rollout became the envy of many nations, Israeli businesses are trying to turn a corner and embrace this new normality. Investment is climbing, SPACs have boomed, and concrete and tangible developments emerged in the new relationship with the United Arab Emirates. We caught up with those leading lawyers and the top ranked law firms that were recognized as leaders in the latest Israel Desks rankings to discover their latest thoughts on how things are going. Lee Noyek at Allen & Overy ( ranked 1 st in Banking): “This really breaks down by sector, dependent on how the pandemic has affected them. We continue to have a market leading finance practice, acting on a variety of matters from infrastructure financing to sovereign work which continues apace. The most in demand sector has, of course, been high-tech where valuations have soared, and with that, we see companies trying to ensure they do not miss out on the boom, and keep to their growth stories. That has an impact on those chasing acquisitions in the sector, like the private equity community, which is seeking to ensure it can deploy capital. In those sectors where the pandemic has really affected business continuity, like the travel sector, we see companies trying to shore up their finances and make contingency plans for what looks like continuing uncertain times. And, our banking clients are grappling, as they have for several years, with changes in regulation and trying to determine how the earth-shattering changes in the real economy will impact on their businesses." Adir Waldman a t Freshfields (ranked 1 st in Energy & Infrastructure): “Like our colleagues around the world and at our Israeli peer firms, we have been exceptionally busy—the world seemed to stop for six weeks or so last Spring, We are more than a year on from the beginning of the pandemic and the series of lockdowns that followed, what concerns Israeli businesses today?