Accountant General Michal Abadi-Boiangiu has issued a warning to the board of directors of Mifal Hapayis national lottery. In a letter to the directors, Mifal Hapayis chairman Uzi Dayan, and its legal counsel Aviad Hacohen, she says that until the dispute is settled and the crisis over, her team is suspending talks on expanding the permit to new lotteries. Mifal Hapayis wants to launch new betting games in addition to its current lotteries, Lotto, Hish-Gad, and Chance.
Ministry of Finance sources said today that unless a solution is quickly found to the crisis at Mifal Hapayis, as its regulator, the ministry would cancel its permit for its current betting games, and, in an extreme scenario, even reconsider the ministry's policy about the organization's permit.
Abadi-Boiangiu wrote, "The fights and power struggles at Mifal Hapayis harm it, its public image, and its ability to function. They are causing uncertainty about the company's operations. We are monitoring developments with concern."
She adds, "As the regulator entrusted with supervising the company, we cannot accept a situation of flawed communications between the chairman and the board of directors which he heads. It is the board's responsibility, and especially the responsibility of the chairman, to ensure continuous, harmonious, and correct activity of the board of directors and of the company's management, including a functioning interface between the chairman and the directors."
Abadi-Boiangiu backs chairman Uzi Dayan, who opposes the appointment of Jacky Vakim as CEO of Mifal Hapayis. Vakim is backed by Local Authorities chairman Shlomo Bohbot and other local authority heads. "The board of directors of Mifal Hapayis must guarantee that only honest persons with integrity, who are suitable for the job, and are of the highest quality, are appointed to senior positions at the company."
Abadi-Boiangiu demands that Mifal Hapayis's board meet within 20 days for a thorough discussion to settle the dispute with Dayan and choose a CEO.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on April 2, 2012
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