FINANCIAL SERVICES

Gal Bar Dea told the Globes Tech IL Conference that a bank's role is not only to look after customers' money but also to promote their economic welfare.

At the Globes Tech IL Conference, KPMG Israel senior executives provided insights into the dramatic race to provide digital currencies.

The new home market is resurgent, but purchases of secondhand homes are stagnant, and mortgage loans are still below the multi-year average.

Overturning a lower court decision, the Supreme Court says that pending a full hearing of its appeal, Mizrahi Tefahot Bank should not transfer the NIS 8 million donation by Roman Abramovich.

Amir Yaron says the market is pricing Israeli government debt higher regardless of the credit agencies, and warns of a 16% rise in direct taxes unless haredim participate fully in the workforce.

The Israeli digital bank lost NIS 357 million last year but says it will be profitable by the end of 2025.

The Bank of Israel will not permit nonbanking credit company Nawi Brothers Group to control the credit card company with a stake of just 25%.

The Israel Competition Authority wants to encourage more competition in retail banking.

Bank current account balances, which declined for most of last year, started to rise sharply after the outbreak of war, but the trend may now be reversing again.

Last year's profit was 9% lower than in 2022, mainly because of a NIS 1.1 billion write down on Bank Leumi's stake in US bank Valley National.

In the fourth quarter of 2023, Mizrahi Tefahot reported net profit of NIS 1.05 billion, down 4.5% from the preceding quarter and down 3.5% from the corresponding quarter of 2023.

The bank's board of directors has decided to distribute a dividend of 20% of the profits in the fourth quarter amounting to NIS 184 million.

The Israeli online trading platform's CEO Yoni Assia told "The Financial Times" eToro is mulling an IPO at a valuation of over $3.5 billion, well below the $10.4 billion of its aborted SPAC merger.

The unattended points of sale solutions company is buying VMtecnologia, and issuing 2.1 million new shares.

The lower dividend is in line with recent Bank of Israel guidelines. The net profit is 12.7% higher than in 2022.

By acquiring PaySpace, Deel becomes the first global payroll and Employer of Record (EOR) with its own full-stack payroll engine localized in 50 countries.

This is the fintech company's second round of layoffs since 2022 when 10% of 600 employees were dismissed.

The Israeli nonbanking credit finance company is to submit a request to the Bank of Israel to acquire control of the credit card company.

Thefts are back to pre-war levels and more, with insurance premiums rising again accordingly.

Israeli ratings agency Midroog explains that the ratings cut might extend beyond the banks to government companies like the Israel Electric Corp.

NIS 5.5 billion worth of mortgages were taken in January 2024, the Bank of Israel reports, down 13% from January 2023 and down 45% from January 2022.

Digital bank One Zero CEO Gal Bar Dea and AI developer AI21 Labs CEO Ori Goshen, both companies cofounded by Amnon Shashua, explain what they can achieve together.

Kadoche is acquiring a 52% stake in Sigma Clarity Investment House and will serve as chairman alongside Alberto Garfunkel.

The Israeli fintech company raised the debt directly for its needs and not for one of the funds that it operates, so the funds could be used for mergers and acquisitions.

Israeli ministers have protested, but experts with whom "Globes" spoke say local banks have no option but to freeze the accounts of the four Israelis that the US accuses of violence against Palestinians.

The Israeli bank has written to the UN Palestinian refugee agency saying it was seriously concerned that money from the account was reaching terrorist groups.

Moran Alon, who runs the Israeli branch of Swiss bank Pictet, talks to "Globes" about where the money should go in 2024.

Bank Leumi has set a strategy on climate change and the environment which aims to provide green credit worth NIS 35 billion by 2030.

300 people are being laid off around the world, many of them in Israel.

Despite the Attorney General supporting the bank, the Tel Aviv District Court has instructed Mizrahi Tefahot Bank to transfer Roman Abramovich's NIS 8 million donation to ZAKA.