Bank Hapoalim Elects Directors, Approves CEO Pay Hike and Notes Stake

Bank Hapoalim held its general meeting, electing three directors to three-year terms and approving updated compensation terms for CEO Yadin Antebi. Michal Halperin, former head of the Israel Competition Authority, and Tamar Schechter, a former senior executive at Citibank, were elected as external directors, securing 99.8% and 90.2% of the vote respectively. A third candidate, Yael Grossman, received 73% support but failed to secure a seat.

In the contest for a regular board seat, former Union Bank CEO Israel Trau defeated Oded Salomy, a former senior official at the Bank of Israel, securing another term. The assembly also approved the bank's remuneration policy by 96.2% and updated compensation terms for CEO Yadin Antebi by roughly 97%. Under the approved terms, his monthly base salary will rise to 270,000 shekels, compared to 215,000 shekels set upon his appointment in 2024. Total annual compensation is expected to reach approximately 4.94 million shekels starting in 2027, including equity-based compensation valued at 800,000 shekels annually.

Furthermore, the general meeting approved granting non-chairman directors a fixed annual equity grant of 100,000 shekels starting in 2027. Meanwhile, Barak Capital, controlled by Eyal and Ronit Bakshi, has become a substantial shareholder in the bank after acquiring shares on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. The group now holds 2.46% of Bank Hapoalim's share capital and 2.52% of voting rights, a stake valued at approximately 2.5 billion shekels. Crossing the 2.5% voting rights threshold in a bank without a controlling core grants the group the right to nominate a candidate to the board, subject to shareholder approval.