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Native name | בנק לאומי |
|---|---|
| Company type | Public |
| TASE: LUMI | |
| Industry | Banking |
| Founded | February 27, 1902; 123 years ago (1902-02-27),Jaffa, Independent Sanjak of Jerusalem,Ottoman Empire |
| Founder | Jewish Colonial Trust (Jüdische Kolonialbank) Limited, London, UK |
| Headquarters | , |
Area served | Israel and 21 other countries |
Key people | Hanan Friedman (CEO)[1] Samer Haj-Yehia (chairman) |
| Products | |
| Services | Financial services |
| Revenue |  US$ 3.9 billion(2016) |
| ₪2.83 billion(2015) | |
| US$ 727.1 million(2016) | |
| Total assets | US$ 113.96 billion(2016) |
Number of employees | 12,528 (2016)[2] |
| Subsidiaries | Arab Israel Bank |
| Website | www.leumi.co.il |
Bank Leumi (Hebrew:בנק לאומי, lit.National Bank;Arabic:بنك لئومي) is an Israelibank. It was founded on February 27, 1902, in Jaffa as theAnglo-Palestine Company as subsidiary of theJewish Colonial Trust (Jüdische Kolonialbank) Limited[3]: p.19 formed before in London by members of theZionist movement to promote the industry, construction, agriculture, and infrastructure of the land hoped to ultimately become Israel. Today, Bank Leumi isIsrael's largest bank (by total assets as of 2015), with overseas offices in Luxembourg,[4] US, Switzerland, the UK, Mexico, Uruguay, Romania, Jersey, and China.[5]
Though nationalized in 1981, now Bank Leumi is mainly in private hands, with the government as the largest single shareholder, with 14.8% of the stock, as of June 2006.[update] The other major shareholders areShlomo Eliyahu and Barnea Investments,[6] which each hold 10% of the stock, constituting the control core of the bank. Sixty percent of the bank's stocks are held by the public and traded on theTel Aviv Stock Exchange.
The antecedents of the Jewish Colonial Trust can be traced to Herzl's visionary tract "Der Judenstaat" (lit. "The Jewish State"), detailing his vision of how the Jewish State would be created. A major role was assigned in this vision to a huge body, to be called "The Jewish Company", which would be "founded as a joint stock company subject to English jurisdiction, framed according to English laws, and under the protection of England". In Herzl's vision, this Company would control virtually all the land in Palestine and would take care of transporting there millions of people within a few years – all, or nearly all, Jews living in the world. It would then take care of all the logistics of settling them in their new country, establishing them in urban and rural environments and getting agriculture, trade and industry going. For the Herculean tasks envisioned for it, Herzl estimated that the company's capital should be about a thousand million marks (about £50,000,000 or $200,000,000).[citation needed]
In practice, the Zionist movement was completely unable – either politically or financially – to undertake anything of remotely such dimensions. The actual "Jewish Colonial Trust" – established, indeed, in London – was in effect a small-scale model of the company envisioned in "Der Judenstaat": its capital a small fraction of the sum envisioned for "The Jewish Company" and its activity limited to transporting and settling small numbers of Jews on whatever limited parcels of land in Palestine the Zionist movement managed to buy. Even so, the "Colonial Trust" had a key role in the actual implementation of the Zionist project, towards eventual creation of Israel.[citation needed]
The Jewish Colonial Trust (German: Jüdische Kolonialbank), predecessor to the present Bank Leumi, was founded at theSecond Zionist Congress inBasel and incorporated in London in 1899 as the financial instrument of theZionist Organization.[3]: p.19 The initial capital raised—a total of £395,000—fell far short of the £8 million target;Nahum Sokolow wrote in 1919: "TheBritish East Africa Company, which administered 200,000 square miles, began with the same amount £250,000."[7]
The bank's activities in Palestine were carried out by the Anglo-Palestine Bank, a subsidiary formed in 1902. The bank opened its first branch in Jaffa in 1903 under the management ofZalman David Levontin.[8] Early transactions included land purchase, imports and obtaining concessions. Branches were opened inJerusalem,Beirut,Hebron,Safed,Haifa,Tiberias andGaza.[9]
The Anglo-Palestine Bank offered farmers long-term loans and provided loans to the Ahuzat Bayit association which built the first neighborhood inTel Aviv. DuringWorld War I, the Ottoman government declared the bank, which was registered in England, to be an enemy institution and moved to shut it down and confiscate its cash.[9]
After World War I, its operations expanded. In 1932, the main branch moved from Jaffa to Jerusalem.[9] DuringWorld War II, the Anglo-Palestine Bank helped to finance the establishment of industries that manufactured supplies for the British army.
After the founding of the state of Israel in 1948, the bank won the concession to issue new banknotes. In 1950, the bank was renamedBank Leumi le-Israel (National Bank of Israel). When theBank of Israel was established in 1954, Bank Leumi became acommercial bank.[9]
In 1971, Bank Leumi acquiredArab Israel Bank (Ai Bank; est. 1960), which serves mainly theArab Citizens of Israel in the north of the country. Ai Bank has 35 branches located in Israel's northern and Triangle regions.
The Government of Israel nationalized Bank Leumi in 1983, as a result of theBank Stock Crisis.
In 2007, the bank denied being in possession of funds deposited by Jews who were murdered in the Holocaust. Although denying any wrongdoing, in 2011 the bank agreed to pay out 130m NIS after a state inquiry claimed 300m NIS was being held in 3,577 dormant accounts. The bank was accused of refusing to cooperate with the investigation by refraining from disclosing information about the large amounts of unclaimed money.[10]
In 2011, Bank Leumi acquired Geneva-based Banque Safdie SA for CHF 143m. Bank Leumi merged Banque Safdie with Bank Leumi Switzerland Ltd to form Leumi Private Bank in early 2012.[11]
Leumi closed its representative office inMelbourne, Australia in October 2013.
In July 2014,Bank Julius Baer announced that it had purchased the private banking assets of Bank Leumi. Baer bought Bank Leumi (Luxembourg) S.A., Leumi's private bank in Luxembourg and Leumi will also transfer the clients of Leumi Private Bank to Baer.[12]
In July 2019, Samer Haj-Yehia was appointed chairman.[13]
Bank Leumi USA, the bank's U.S. subsidiary, was purchased byValley National Bank in 2022 for US$1.2 billion in cash and stock.[14]
In 2023Pablo Rosenberg and Gal Toren began to serve as presenters of the Bank.[15]
In October 2017, Danish pension firmSampension banned investment in Leumi alongside three other companies operating inillegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank, includingBank Hapoalim, Israeli telecoms firmBezeq and German firmHeidelberg Cement.[16]
On 12 February 2020, theUnited Nations published adatabase of 112 companies helping to furtherIsraeli settlement activity in theWest Bank, includingEast Jerusalem, as well as in the occupiedGolan Heights.[17] These settlements are consideredillegal under international law.[18] Bank Leumi was listed on the database on account of its "provision of services and utilities supporting the maintenance and existence of settlements" and "banking and financial operations helping to develop, expand or maintain settlements and their activities" in these occupied territories.[19]
On 5 July 2021,Norway's largest pension fundKLP said it would divest from Bank Leumi together with 15 other business entities implicated in the UN report for their links to Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.[20]
The main branch of Bank Leumi on Jaffa Road, Jerusalem, built during theBritish Mandate by theGerman Jewish architectErich Mendelsohn, has been declared a landmark building.
The Bank Leumi branch on the corner ofRamban Street in Jerusalem'sRehavia neighborhood, an example ofBauhaus architecture, was designed by the German Jewish architectLeopold Krakauer.[21] It was built in 1935 as a private home, and was renovated in 2007 to restore the original facade.
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