Israel Urged to Sell Banks: A U.S....

Israel Urged to Sell Banks: A U.S. consulting firm has recommended that the government sell Israel’s major banks by a mix of private placement and public share offers but retain a “golden share” to safeguard national security interests. Merrill Lynch Capital Markets, in a letter obtained by Reuters, urged the government’s holding company to sell stakes to foreign institutional investors, limiting each investor to not more than 3% of each bank. The letter said the state should not intervene in day-to-day management but only ensure that control did not pass into “unacceptable hands.” The government came to hold a majority of ordinary shares in all Israel’s major banks except First International Bank when bank stocks crashed in 1983 and it stepped in to buy shares from the public at a guaranteed price.