Banking in Israel has its roots in the
Zionist movement
Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after ''Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Je ...
at the beginning of the 20th century prior to the establishment of the
State of Israel in 1948.
History
The
World Zionist Organization
The World Zionist Organization ( he, הַהִסְתַּדְּרוּת הַצִּיּוֹנִית הָעוֹלָמִית; ''HaHistadrut HaTzionit Ha'Olamit''), or WZO, is a non-governmental organization that promotes Zionism. It was founded as the ...
established the Anglo-Palestine Bank in 1903 (which later was renamed
Bank Leumi
Bank Leumi ( he, בנק לאומי, lit. ''National Bank''; ar, بنك لئومي) is an Israeli bank. It was founded on February 27, 1902, in Jaffa as the ''Anglo Palestine Company'' as subsidiary of the Jewish Colonial Trust (Jüdische Koloni ...
). The two largest banks control over 60% of the banking activity, and the top five over 90%.
Most of the banks were nationalized when their stocks collapsed in the
1983 bank stock crisis. Since then the government has sold much of its bank stock holdings, but still remains a large stockholder in many of the now privately held banks. The government sold Bank Hapoalim in 1996 and Bank Mizrahi (now merged into
Bank Mizrahi-Tefahot
Bank Mizrahi-Tefahot ( he, בנק מזרחי טפחות) is the third-largest bank in Israel. It has around 140 branches. The bank is the largest among Israel's mortgage lenders.
History
Bank Mizrahi-Tefahot was formed by a merger of Bank Mizrah ...
) in 1998. The government also sold a major part of its stock in
Discount Bank
Discount may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
*Discount (band), punk rock band that formed in Vero Beach, Florida in 1995 and disbanded in 2000
* ''Discount'' (film), French comedy-drama film
* "Discounts" (song), 2020 single by American rapper Cu ...
in 2006, and of
Leumi Bank in 2005.
Major banks
Supervision and regulation
The
Bank of Israel
The Bank of Israel ( he, בנק ישראל, ar, بنك إسرائيل) is the central bank of Israel. The bank's headquarters is located in Kiryat HaMemshala in Jerusalem with a branch office in Tel Aviv. The current governor is Amir Yaron.
T ...
supervises Israeli banks via the Supervisor of Banks.
The tasks and authority of the Supervisor of Banks are based on several laws:
Banking Supervision
Bank of Israel
*The Banking Ordinance, 1941, a Mandatory ordinance which has been amended and updated over the years;
*The Banking (Licensing) Law, 1981;
*The Banking (Service to Customers) Law, 1981;
*The Checks Without Cover (bad checks
Dishonoured cheques (also spelled check) are cheques that a bank on which is drawn declines to pay (“honour”). There are a number of reasons why a bank would refuse to honour a cheque, with non-sufficient funds (NSF) being the most common on ...
) Law, 1981.
References
{{Asia topic, Banking in
Economy of Israel