The election of Bank Leumi's (TASE: LUMI) next chairman is shifting into high gear. Following the clearing up of the legal issues, the bank is carrying out the ruling of Petah Tikva District Court Judge Hila Gerstel.
Bank Leumi today announced that it will summon a general shareholders meeting on June 2 to elect five new directors to its board. One of the newly elected directors will probably be elected as the next chairman, replacing Eitan Raff, who is retiring after 15 years in the job.
At the advice of Bank Leumi's board legal counsel Adv. Dalia Tal, the bank set an April 21 deadline for shareholders to submit themselves or their nominees as candidates for directors.
The government appointments committee, chaired by Adv. Margalit Nof, is now meeting to revenue all the more than 100 candidates for directorships who have submitted forms, and to decide who will be the government's five candidates for directorships. Nof will reportedly recommend candidates associated with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, such as former Israel Securities Authority chairman Moshe Tery. The situation concerning another Netanyahu associate, Ori Yogev, is unclear, and some sources believe that he does not want to "dirty his hands" by running.
Two candidates who will in any case run are Izzy Tapuchi, a former chairman at Bezeq The Israeli Telecommunication Co. Ltd. (TASE: BEZQ) and Africa-Israel Investments Ltd. (TASE:AFIL; Pink Sheets:AFIVY); and Amos Sapir, until recently the chairman of Standard & Poor's Maalot Ltd..
Shlomo Eliahu, the largest private shareholder in Bank Leumi, is expected to resubmit his candidate for a directorship and chairman, former Governor of the Bank of Israel Dr. David Klein.
Bank Leumi's new board of directors will have to appoint a new chairman. In principle, there is nothing to prevent a current director from getting the job.
Bank Leumi's share price fell 1.3% by mid-afternoon on the TASE to NIS 17.07.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on March 18, 2010
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