The Bank of Jordan has received a license to open its doors again on the West Bank.
The license, which was granted Wednesday, enables the bank to re-establish a West Bank presence for the first time since the 1967 Six-Day War.
The bank’s first branch will open in Ramallah, with others scheduled to follow.
The civil administration in the territories and Israel’s supervisor of banks are involved in negotiations with other Arab banks to enable them to set up branches in the West Bank and Gaza.
Banking sources also note that talks with local businessmen in the territories about establishing a Palestinian bank in the West Bank are also progressing.
A partnership between Israel’s Bank Leumi and Palestinian interests to set up a joint banking project in the West Bank had been suggested by the Palestinians in December.
The suggestion was made shortly after Jordan reached an agreement on banking with Israel.
The Jordanian agreement was signed in Washington on Dec. 5 by representatives of the Bank of Israel and the Jordanian central bank.
The agreement paved the way for the speedy reopening of Jordanian banks in the West Bank.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
