Israel Discount Bank (TASE: DSCT), Israel's fourth largest bank, has appointed Uri Levin as CEO in place of Lilach Asher-Topilsky, who announced her resignation six weeks ago. Levin is currently CEO of Discount Bank unit Discount Bank of New York.
Levin was also a candidate to become CEO of Bank Hapoalim (TASE: POLI), but he withdrew his candidacy last week after a day of interviews with the Bank Hapoalim search committee.
Levin, 46, a former Israel Air Force pilot, completed a first degree in computer engineering and computer science at Tel Aviv University with distinction, and went on to take an MBA at the London Business School. After his studies, he worked at business consultant McKinsey in London. His banking career began two years later, in 2007. Zvi Ziv, then CEO of Bank Hapoalim, asked him to serve as his assistant. After two further years in the corporate division, he left to become CEO of ISP, a broking firm active in Israel and Switzerland managing investments for wealthy families and investment institutions. This turned out to be one of the less distinguished periods in Levin's career. Among the owners of the firm was Itay Strum, who was convicted of share pegging along with Nochi Dankner. Strum is about to be released from prison after his application for a pardon was approved.
In 2014, Lilach Asher-Topilsky, who was then starting out as CEO of Discount Bank and who knew Levin from Bank Hapoalim, where she had been head of the retail banking division and deputy CEO, persuaded him to leave ISP, and appointed him VP Finance and Strategy at Discount Bank, as part of the cadre of close advisers she was building.
Two years later, Asher-Topilsky appointed Levin head of Discount Bank of New York, the largest of the Israeli banks operating in the city. Discount Bank regards its New York unit as highly important, in a period when ties between Israeli banks and the US are far from smooth. Sources at Discount Bank say that Levin built an infrastructure at Discount Bank of New York to last for many years ahead. His compensation in the post last year (including bonus) totaled NIS 7.3 million. The post is not subject to the restrictions on salaries in the financial sector under Israeli law.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on July 15, 2019
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