Sources inform ''Globes'' that Bank Hapoalim (TASE: POLI) controlling shareholder Shari Arison today met State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss at his office in Jerusalem. Knowledgeable sources said that Arison asked for the meeting in order to lodge a complaint against Supervisor of Banks Rony Hizkiyahu over his conduct in the dispute with the bank.
Hizkiyahu and Governor of the Bank of Israel Prof. Stanley Fischer are demanding that Arison dismiss Bank Hapoalim chairman Dan Dankner, and they are threatening to take measures to remove him if she does not do so.
Ten days ago, Arison lambasted the Bank of Israel, and gave full support to Dankner. "I cannot agree to the Bank of Israel's demand," she said, "How can I agree with a demand that seems to be totally unjustified… The Bank of Israel has made an extraordinary and extreme demand without explaining it to me in the necessarily serious manner."
As for Dankner, Arison said, "I have full and unreserved confidence in the chairman. He took over the reins in a difficult and complicated time, and has coped with it with great skill and exceptional ability."
Last week, Fischer met Dankner at the Bank of Israel's office in Tel Aviv, following their first exchange during the "Globes" Finance and Capital Markets Conference earlier in the day. No compromise was apparently reached at the meeting, and Fischer insisted on Dankner's removal.
In recent years, Lindenstrauss has investigated a number of cases involving the conduct of the Banking Supervision Department. He recently published a draft report concerning Hizkiyahu's conduct after Bank Hapoalim was compelled to make a $1.5 billion write-off on its investment in US financial instruments.
"Globes" recently revealed that Lindenstrauss found that the Bank of Israel had only partial information about the banks' exposure to risky financial instruments related to US mortgage-backed securities.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on May 18, 2009
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