The opening today of a branch in the United States, at 60 Wall Street here was announced by Bank Leumi le-Israel. The bank which has 135 branches in Israel, and affiliated banks in London and Zurich – is among the first six foreign banks licensed to open branches here, following last year’s revision of the New York State banking law entitling it, among other activities, to accept deposits and savings accounts from the general public.
Establishment of the New York branch is the culmination of 11 years of Bank Leumi’s activities in the United States. It had opened a representative office in New York in 1950, and became an agency in 1959. Conversion of the agency into a full-fledged branch now enables the bank to transact every kind of commercial banking business. Gideon Strauss, who was Israel’s first commercial consul in New York, has been named manager of the branch.
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