פרופ' רות פלאטו שנער

Professor Ruth Plato-Shinar

Professor Ruth Plato-Shinar is a full professor of Banking Law and Financial Regulation, and the founder and Director of the Center for Banking Law and Financial Regulation, at the Netanya Academic College, Israel.

Her research (books and articles) deals with bank-customer relationships, consumer financial protection, ethics in finance, means of payment, and various aspects of financial regulation.

The body of work of Prof. Plato-Shinar projects a strong consumer protection approach, recognizing the need for a wider protection for banking customers. She emphasizes the huge disparity of power between the bank and the retail customers, and calls for curbing the banks' financial and political clout by imposing a wide fiduciary duty on the banks towards their customers.

Her studies have bestowed upon her a few prizes and grants, including a special award of the Canadian Government for her contribution to developing the doctrine of the social responsibility of banks, and the Jean Monnet Center of Excellence Research Grant for her work on consumer protection in a world of digital payments.

In recent years, her research has focused on the intersection between finance, technology, and the law. She deals with topics such as the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in financial services; "open banking" and information sharing systems; the digitation of financial services; Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC); and more. Her research explores the impact of financial emerging technologies on consumers, from both the human rights and the consumer protection aspects. With the objective of trying to balance between encouraging innovation and protecting consumers, she examines possible regulatory models for these financial activities.

Professor Plato-Shinar has been invited as a visiting/research scholar to prominent institutions, such as Cambridge University, Harvard Law School, Bologna University, Kings College London, UCL London, The Swiss Institute of Comparative Law, Max Planck Institute for Private Law, and more.

She is a Fellow Academic Member of the European Banking Institute (EBI); an  Advisory Board Member at the Asian Institute for International Financial Law (AIIFL) at Hong Kong University; and a member of the Advisory Council at the Center for Commercial Law Studies (CCLS) in Queen Mary University, London.

Professor Plato-Shinar holds several public positions. She is a member of the Advisory Committee of the Governor of the Bank of Israel; the Chairperson of the Advisory Committee of the Commissioner of Credit Data Sharing; the Chairperson of the Advisory Committee of the Supervisor of Financial Service Providers; Deputy Chairperson of the Advisory Committee of the Supervisor of Capital Markets Insurance and Savings; and a member of the License Committee of the Supervisor of Banks.

Formerly she served on the Advisory Committee of the Israeli Minister of Finance, and as the Public Representative on the Board of the Government Class Actions Fund.

Prof. Plato-Shinar devotes a portion of her time to public activity and community affairs. She is a member of the Public Committee of Maale (a ranking body for corporate social responsibility). Formerly she served on the Academic Committee of the Jerusalem Center for Ethics.

Selected Publications

Monographs

1. Ruth Plato-Shinar, Banking Regulation in Israel: Prudential Regulation vs. Conduct of Business Regulation (Walters Kluwer, 2016) (Including introduction by the Governor of the Bank of Israel, 275 pages).

 

         The Book was translated into Mandarin:

         以色列银行业监管—审慎监管与消费者保护 (2019)

 

2. Ruth Plato-Shinar, The Bank's Fiduciary Duty: The Duty of Loyalty

         (The Israel Bar Publishing House, 2010) (750 pages, in Hebrew).

Books Editing

1. Festschrift in Honor of Prof Siani Deutch

         (Moshe Gelbard and Ruth Plato-Shinar eds., Nevo Publishing, forthcoming in 2024, in Hebrew).

2. Fiduciary Duties in the Israeli Law

         (Ruth Plato-Shinar and Joshua Segev eds., Nevo Publishing, 2016) (385 pages, in Hebrew).

Chapters in Books

*       "Enhancing AI in Finance Through Regulatory Sandboxes", in Algorithms, Artificial Intelligence and the Law (Niva            Elkin-Koren, Assaf Hamdani & Maayan Perel eds., forthcoming in 2024, in Hebrew).

*       "Ai-based Consumer Credit Underwriting: The Role of a National Credit Database in AI-Based Underwriting"

         in The Use of Artificial Intelligence in the Financial Sector: Opportunities and Regulatory Challenges151-176           (with Maayan Pearl. Nydia Remolina & Aurelio Gurrea-Martinez eds., 2023).

*       "Shaming by Bank Regulators: Methods and Applications", in The Legal Aspects of Shaming: An Ancient           Sanction in a Modern World 249-271 (Meital Pinto & Guy Seidman eds., 2023).

*       "Banking Regulation in Israel: Balancing Systemic Stability and Consumer Protection" in Regulation in Israel:           Values, Effectiveness, Methods 27-48 (Eyal Tevet, Itzhak Galnoor & Varda Shiffer eds., Springer, 2021).

*       "Can the Twin Peaks Model of Financial Regulation Serve as a Model for Israel?"

         in The Cambridge Handbook of Twin Peaks Financial Regulation 169-190

         (Andrew Godwin & Andrew Schmulow eds., Cambridge University Press, 2021).

*       "Law and Ethics: The Bank's Fiduciary Duty towards Retail Customers

         in Research Handbook on Ethics in Banking and Finance 214-236

         (William Blair, Rosa Lastra & Costanza Russo eds. Edward Elgar, 2019).

*       "The Role of Political Economy in Designing Banking Regulation: The Israeli Bank Fees Reform as a Test Case"

         in The Political Economy of Financial Regulation 189-218

         (Emilios Avgouleas and David C. Donald, eds. Cambridge University Press, 2019).

*       "Thoughts about the Proper Boundaries for the Bank's Fiduciary Duty – Should the Bank Act as a Guardian for the           Customer?"

         in Fiduciary Duties in the Israeli Law 107-130 (Ruth Plato-Shinar & Joshua Segev eds., Nevo Publishing House,           2016, in Hebrew).

*       "Cross-Border Banking: Reconceptualizing Bank Secrecy"

         in Reconceptualizing Global Finance and its Regulation 236-249 (R. Buckley,          Emilios Avgouleas & Douglas           Arner eds., Cambridge University Press, 2016).

*       "Consumer Protection through Soft Law in an Era of Global Financial Crisis"

         in The Changing Landscape of Global Financial Governance and the Role of Soft Law 233-257 (with Rolf Weber.           Friedl Weiss & Armin Kammel eds., Brill Martinus Nijhoff, 2015).

Articles

*       "Bank Consumer Protection in an era of Digitalization and Datafication"

            Research Paper, The Vicky and Joseph Safra Institute of Banking and Financial Intermediary, Coller School of           Management, Tel Aviv University (2024, in Hebrew).

*       "The Right to Financial Privacy in an Era of Mandatory Duties of Disclosure", 38 BFLR – Festschrift in Honour of           Prof. Geva 285-305 (2022).

*       "AI in Consumer Credit Underwriting: Opportunities, Challenges and Proposed Regulation",

         6 Regulation Research 137-201 (with Maayan Pearl, 2023, in Hebrew).

*       "AI-Based Consumer Credit Underwriting: Should We Fear Discrimination?"

         45 Tel-Aviv L. Rev. 553-610 (with Maayan Pearl, 2022, in Hebrew).

*       "The Role of Law in Developing and Designing the Payments Ecosystem in Israel"

         5 Law Society & Culture 361-402 (2022, in                     Hebrew).

*       "Simplifying the Interaction between Banks and their Customers: Towards Modernization of the Banking Contract           Language"

         56 Hebrew University L. Rev. 713-767 (with Sol Azuelos-Atias, 2022, in Hebrew).

*       "Thinking Outside the Box: The New Regulatory Sandbox Regime in Israel", 36 Banking & Finance L. Rev. 457-479           (2021).

*       "Payments Services Law, 5779-2019: Consumer Protection in a Digital Payments World", 27 Hamishpat 275-302           (2021, in Hebrew).

*       "Regulating Liability for Unauthorised Digital Payments: Insights for South Africa", Annual Banking Law Update 1-           22 (2020).

*       "The new Israeli Law on Payment Services: Towards a New World of Digital Payments"

         35 Banking & Finance L. Rev. 351-382 (2020).

*       Ruth Plato-Shinar, "The Sale of Bank Loan Portfolios to Non- Bank Entities under the Bank's Fiduciary Duty"

         Hebrew University Law Review Online, Symposium on Assignment of Rights (2020, in Hebrew).

*       "The Right to Financial Privacy – A Disappearing Era"

         2 Law Society & Culture, a special issue on "Privacy, Law and the Surveillance Society" 199-229 (2019, in           Hebrew).

*       Ruth Plato-Shinar, "Financial Consumer Protection in the Post Financial Crisis Era: Can the American FCPB Serve           as a Model for other Jurisdictions?"

         53 Texas Int. Law J. 171-200 (2019).

*       Ruth Plato-Shinar, "Regulatory Shaming: Can it Serve as an Enforcement Tool in the Banking Field?"

         23 Law & Business Review, Special Issue on Shaming 677-720 (2019, in Hebrew).

*       Michal Ofer-Zfoni, Ruth Plato-Shinar, "On Failure of Consideration and Holding in Due Course – an Opportunity to           Correct Legal Anachronism"

         12 Netanya Academic College Law Review 205-249 (2017, in Hebrew).

*       Ruth Plato-Shinar, Keren Borenstein-Nativ, "Misconduct Costs of Banks – The Meaning Behind the Figures"

         32 Banking & Finance L. Rev.  495-528 (2017).

*       Ruth Plato-Shinar, "Banking (Service to Customer) Law 1981; On the Absence of a Fiduciary Duty"

         5 Hukim – Journal on Legistation 179-236 (2013, in Hebrew).

*       Ruth Plato-Shinar, "The Banking Contract as a Special Contract – The Israeli Model"

         29 Touro Law Review 721-746 (2013).

*       Ruth Plato-Shinar, "The Bank's Fiduciary Duty under Israeli Law: Is there a need to transform it from an Equitable           Principle into a Statutory Duty?"

         39 Common Law World Review 219-245 (2012).

*       Ruth Plato-Shinar, The Bank's Duty of Disclosure – Towards a New Model

         27 Banking & Finance Law Review 427-444 (2012).

*       Ruth Plato-Shinar, Marcia Gelpe, "Lenders’ Liability for Environmental Damages in the Absence of Statutory                     Regulation – Lessons from the Israeli Model: Part 1"

         5 Law and Financial Markets Review 367-379, 458-466 (2011).

*       Aviva Geva, Ruth Plato-Shinar, "Ethical Code – Does it Add Anything to Banking Regulation?"

         27 Bar-Ilan Law Studies 261-313 (2011, in Hebrew).

*       Ruth Plato-Shinar, "Bank Secrecy under the Basic Law on Human Dignity and Liberty and the New Constitutional           Discourse"

         8 Ono Academic College Law Journal 71- 109 (2009, in Hebrew).

*       Ruth Plato-Shinar, Rolf Weber, "Three Models of the Bank's Fiduciary Duty,

         2 Law and Financial Markets Review 422-438 (2008).

        

*       Ruth Plato-Shinar, "Class Actions against Banks under the New Israeli Law on Class Actions"

         26 Annual Review of Banking and Financial Law 255 – 282 (2007).

*         "Bank Secrecy in Israel – Or its Residue"

         29 The Comparative Law of International Business 269- 301 (2007).

*       Ruth Plato-Shinar, "An Angel Named 'The Bank': The Bank's Fiduciary Duty as the Basic Theory in Israeli Banking           Law"

             36 Common Law World Review 27- 49 (2007).