| Headline: Israel Source: Euromoney Date: July 2001 Best bank Bank Hapoalim Best debt house Citigroup/Salomon Smith Barney Best equity house UBS Warburg Best M&A Citigroup/Salomon Smith Barney In Israel two banks compete strongly for the position of best bank. This year Bank Hapoalim continues to beat off the formidable challenge of its closest rival, Bank Leumi.
Hapoalim, though, is reckoned to be maintaining its focus on core strengths, whereas Leumi is perceived to be diversifying into sectors that commentators feel offer little value. “Hapoalim hasn’t been buying hotels and oil companies and is focusing on straightforward banking,” explains one. Although Israel is not a large market in terms of population, customers are sophisticated – by far the most sophisticated in the Middle East. As a result there is no easy route to increasing size or improving a franchise by introducing telephone banking or internet banking because those services are already widespread. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||