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Bank Leumi Media Monitoring 02/18/15

English Language Press - There are no relevant clips to report at this time.

Swiss German Language Press - There are no relevant clips to report at this time.

Israeli Press

1. Return Leumi Stock to Holocaust Survivors

   Feb 17, 2015 | The Marker (Hebrew)

   By Yair Tsadok
   
   
   Mimun Yashir provides loans to private borrowers, mainly for car purchases. Eighty percent of the company is held by to Mooki Schneidman’s Israel Direct Insurance (IDI Insurance Company Ltd.), owned by IDI Holdings. Bank Leumi owns the remaining 20%, through its investment arm Leumi Partners.

Bank Leumi Media Monitoring 02/18/15

English Language Press - There are no relevant clips to report at this time.

Swiss German Language Press - There are no relevant clips to report at this time.

Israeli Press

1. Return Leumi Stock to Holocaust Survivors

   Feb 17, 2015 | The Marker (Hebrew)

   By Yair Tsadok

   The Jewish Colonial Trust (JCT), which was formed in Jaffa in 1902 as a banking body for the Zionist movement, evolved into the Anglo-Palestine Bank and eventually, Bank Leumi. The publicly-traded company, whose central asset nowadays is its 4.97% stake in Bank Leumi, has two main shareholders: The Company for Location and Restitution of Holocaust Victims' Assets, which controls 24.79% of JCT, and the Ministry of Justice’s Administrator General, who holds 15.78%. Thecombined stake of these two shareholders reaches 40.57% of the company’s stock.

   These two shareholders have called for shareholder meeting on March 1, with the goal of distributing the company’s main asset – its Leumi stake – among the shareholders. Assuming that other large shareholders – the investment houses – support the motion, JCT will be forced to pay out its Leumi shares as dividends-in-kind, rendering the JCT itself as asset-less and meaningless.

   -         The shareholders pushing the motion claim that the JCT is a redundant and inefficient structure which brings no value to its shareholders.

   -         The JCT’s board, comprised mainly of representatives of the World Zionist Organization, appears set for a lengthy legal battle to block the move.

   -         The complex legal proceedings, pitting the JCT’s board against its shareholders, are expected to yield generous fees for the lawyers. The board’s legal fees will ultimately be paid by the company’s shareholders - victims of the Holocaust.

   -         Article supports the dividend payout, in order that the shares can serve the welfare needs of Holocaust survivors and society at large.

   -         JCT currently employs two full-time staff, a CEO and a company secretary, in addition to two part time staff, an auditor and a comptroller. The company also has a 15-member board – an absurd figure given the nature of the company’s activities, as a holdings company. Board members are paid positions. Additional costs include legal and accounting fees, all on the bill of Holocaust survivors and their children.

   -         Article stresses that JCT has Leumi has never been considered an ‘activist’ shareholder at Bank Leumi, which has not been forced to consider the company’s views when formulating strategy.

   -         Article closes by definitively repeating the call for the dissolution of the JCT. 

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