Supervisor of Capital Markets, Insurance and Savings Yadin Antebi today granted a limited pension advice license to Bank Hapoalim (TASE: POLI; LSE:80OA). Until August 2010, the bank may only provide pension advice to the self-employed and wage-earners in outlying areas, where the small and mid-sized banks have few branches.
Bank Hapoalim already provides advice for advanced training funds. It will initially provide pension advice for the self-employed in a pilot program at nine branches. The bank will later expand the service, first to outlying areas and then to the center of the country, under the terms of its license. The bank has trained 300 investment advisers for this purpose.
Bank Hapoalim will also begin providing pension advice on insurance products in April.
Bank Hapoalim obtained its pension advice license after completing the sale of mutual, provident, and advanced training funds, as mandated under the Bachar banking reform legislation. The issue of the license completes another stage in the reform, with most banks now holding pension advice licenses.
Since June 2006, ten banks have obtained pension advice licenses: Mizrahi Tefahot Bank (TASE:MZTF), Israel Discount Bank (TASE: DSCT) and its subsidiary Mercantile Discount Bank, First International Bank of Israel (TASE: FTIN1;FTIN5) and its subsidiaries Bank Otsar Hahayal and Bank Poalei Agudat Israel, Union Bank of Israel (TASE: UNON), Bank Leumi (TASE: LUMI) and its subsidiary Arab Israel Bank (for the self-employed and wage-earners in outlying areas only), and now Bank Hapoalim.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on January 28, 2009
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