The board of directors of Bank of Jerusalem (TASE: JBNK) is due to convene tomorrow to appoint Uri Paz as managing director instead of Avi Bzura. Last week, bank chairman Jonathan Irroni and the bank's controlling shareholders, the Shoval family, presented the process for replaing the executive to Supervisor of Banks Rony Hizkiyahu and obtained his okay.
Bank of Jerusalem director Gideon Shoval, the son of Zalman Shoval, the chairman of the bank's parent company Export Investment Corporation Ltd. are behind the move.
Paz, a former Bank Hapoalim executive, will take up the post in a few weeks, after his job terms are settled and the Bank of Israel approves the move. Hizkiyahu considers Paz a "very worthy appointment", but was perturbed by the way in which Gideon Shoval sought to replace the Bank of Jerusalem's managing director over the heads of the bank's directors. Hizkiyahu also refused to allow Paz to appointed to the post of executive vice chairman, a new position specially created at the bank for him.
Irroni has been chairman of Bank of Jerusalem since March 2006. He will continue in his post in order to ease Paz's entrance. It cannot be ruled out that Irroni will leave the bank at the end of year, after five years in the job.
The Bank of Jerusalem specializes in mortgage loans, and is Israel's seventh and smallest independent bank with a market cap of NIS 500 million. The bank posted a net profit of NIS 59 million in 2009, giving a return on equity of 10.2%. Its capital adequacy ratio was 16% at the end of 2009 under Basel II - The New Basel Capital Accord of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision).
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on February 28, 2010
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