Israeli Banking System
Israel has a sophisticated banking system. It consists of 16
banks, 4 foreign banks licensed in Israel, as well as 3 large and 3
smaller card companies.
The largest Israeli banks are Bank Leumi, Bank Hapoalim, Israel
Discount Bank, Bank Mizrahi-Tefahot and First International Bank
(FIBI). The shares of these banks are listed for trade on the Tel
Aviv Stock Exchange. The aggregate market share of Bank Leumi and
Bank Hapoalim is approximately 60%, which means that the
centralization of the Israeli banking system is relatively
high.
Barclays Bank, Citibank, HSBC Bank and State Bank of India are
foreign banks that have obtained banking licences to operate in
Israel. Bank of America, Deutsche Bank, UBS, BNP Paribas as well as
other foreign banks also maintain a presence in Israel under
various regulatory arrangements.
