Supervisor of Banks Rony Hizkiyahu will meet this morning with the board of directors of Bank Hapoalim (LSE: BKHD; TASE: POLI) at the offices of the Bank of Israel in Jerusalem. The board will present its proposed search committee to find a CEO to replace Zvi Ziv, who resigned.
Hizkiyahu is expected to reject the proposed setup, and to press for a committee that will have more influence on who the next CEO actually is.
Hapoalim's proposal is a partial answer to Hizkiyahu's demands. However, he is pushing for a more independent makeup of committee members, made up of three outside directors. The bank's proposal is for a five member committee, on which the majority would be allied with controlling shareholder Shari Arison.
Banking industry sources feel it will be difficult for the Bank of Israel to agree to the proposed committee, although there is a chance that it may do so as a sign of good will toward Hapoalim.
Yesterday, Bank Hapoalim (TASE: POLI) controlling shareholder Shari Arison 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.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on May 19, 2009
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