Former Ministry of Finance Accountant General Nir Gilad is returning as chairperson to Migdal Insurance and Financial Holdings Ltd. (TASE: MGDL), where he served as deputy CEO under Izzy Cohen and Aharon Fogel. Gilad spent many years as CEO of Israel Corporation (TASE: ILCO) and chairperson of Israel Chemicals (TASE: ICL: NYSE: ICL). He will replace outgoing Migdal chairperson Prof. Oded Sarig. Migdal controlling shareholder Shlomo Eliahu is responsible for Gilad's appointment.
Sarig, a former supervisor of insurance, resigned last December because of "corporate governance problems in the group," as he explained in a sharp letter to Migdal's board of directors. In his letter, Sarig said that he "could not continue to bear responsibility for money deposited with Migdal by 2.5 million policyholders and savers when I am unable to take the necessary actions on their behalf and for the benefit of the company."
Sarig's resignation followed Eliahu's appointment of a Migdal board of directors committee, consisting of Eliahu himself and external directors Ronit Bodo and Avraham Bigger (disclosure: Bigger is a consultant to the board of directors at "Globes"), to oversee Migdal's management, thereby bypassing Sarig and CEO Doron Sapir. Eliahu's plan was eventually thwarted by Capital Markets Authority director Moshe Bareket.
In addition to Sarig and Eliahu, Migdal's board of directors includes Azriel Moskovich, Dr. Gavriel Picker (an associate of Eliahu for many years and the son of former supervisor of the Capital Market and Insurance Yaakov Picker, who granted Eliahu the original permit to found Eliahu Insurance), and external directors Meirav Ben Cnann Heller, Bigger, and Bodo. Arie Mintkevich also joined the main boards of directors at Migdal in recent days. With the exception of Sarig, all of the directors at Migdal Insurance are also directors at Migdal Holdings.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on February 5, 2019
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