ISRAEL Executive Summary
Underwritten by CASH AND TREASURY MANAGEMENT COUNTRY REPORT ISRAEL Executive Summary Banking The Israeli central bank is the Bank of Israel. Bank supervision is performed by the Bank of Israel’s Banking Supervision Department. Israel applies central bank reporting requirements. All transactions between residents and non- residents are reported to the Bank of Israel. Resident entities are permitted to hold fully convertible domestic and foreign currency bank accounts domestically and outside Israel. Non-resident entities are permitted to hold fully convertible domestic and foreign currency bank accounts within Israel. The banking system is dominated by Bank Hapoalim and Bank Leumi le-Israel. There are also another 15 commercial banks in operation, one non-bank financial institution plus four branches of foreign banks. Payments Israel has three principal payment systems: the RTGS system (Zahav), the Banks’ Automated Clearing House (Masav) and the Banks’ Paper-based Clearing House (BCH). The increased use of electronic and internet banking has led to growth in the use of electronic transfers and direct debits. Card payments are increasing rapidly, especially in the retail sector. Checks remain commonly used. Liquidity Management Israel-based companies have access to a variety of short-term funding options. There is also a range of short-term investment instruments available. Both cash concentration and notional pooling are used by companies in Israel to manage company and group liquidity. Trade Finance Israel has established free trade arrangements with the European Union (EU), the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), Mercosur (a common market comprising Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay), the USA, Panama, Colombia, Canada, Mexico, Egypt, Russia, Jordan, Vietnam, Sri Lanka and Turkey.
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