Senior officials in the banking industry in Israel call on their colleagues to stop mixing business with politics, and to calm down the financial market in Israel.
According to them, the statements of some bank CEOs and economists, according to which the legal reform will harm the economy, "are political statements that have no professional justification, but become self-fulfilling prophecies."
"The statements against the reform are political".
Lyon and Netanyahu, photo: Yonatan Zindel/Flash90
One of the senior officials in the industry tells "Israel Today": "There was not a single realistic event at the beginning of the transfer of funds. No law related to the articles of the reform was passed. But senior businessmen, including in the banking industry, have already issued statements according to which there is damage to the economy and spending money, And that's what started the wave. Innocent people say, 'We've heard CEOs say there's a problem.
So we want to open an account abroad. It was a prophecy that came true, as happens in the economy, even though it had no justification. They said irresponsible, unprofessional and untrue things. The matter is political. They are behaving in an unstately manner."
"crossing lines"
In a conversation with Israel Hayom, the same executive, who plays a central role in one of the major banks, added: "There is an atmosphere of terror in the system. People are afraid to speak. Even those who think that mixing business and politics is unprofessional do not dare to speak, because people are pointed at and labeled."
The senior mentioned the CEO of Discount Bank, Uri Levin, who openly participated in a demonstration against the reform, as the one who started the wave in the banking system.
The official also noted that there may be a connection between the law limiting the salaries of bank CEOs, which was approved in 2016, and the CEOs' crossing of political lines.
"Is it possible for a CEO of a large public company to act deliberately to bring down the stock of the company he heads?
We came to know that CEOs of banks do not hesitate to carry out actions that have consequences for the company's stock. The law made CEOs not accept responsibility.
They have no incentive to bring shareholder value.
The CEO can express himself politically in a way that drops his company's stock."
were we wrong
We will fix it!
If you found an error in the article, we would appreciate it if you shared it with us
