The story
Bank Igud was founded in 1951 by the Economic Company for Israel from New York and the Palestine Association from London. This continued the banking operations of the Palestine Association, which had been active in the Land of Israel since 1922. In April 1954, Bank Leumi acquired most of the shares of the Palestine Association, resulting in Bank Igud becoming jointly owned by Bank Leumi and the Economic Company. In March 1958, a merger with Feuchtwanger Bank was proposed, but negotiations failed, and the merger did not proceed. In 1961, Bank Leumi purchased the remaining shares, gaining full ownership of Bank Igud.
In 2014, Bank Igud held a market share of about 3% of the banking system in Israel, focusing on commercial activity for high-income earners.
A unique sector the bank operated in was the diamond sector. When the Diamond Exchange was established, diamond trading also took place in the building where the bank's offices were located in Tel Aviv, thus establishing a connection between this sector and the bank. The bank's market share in the diamond sector stood at about 22%, significantly higher than its relative share in the general banking market. As part of the merger process with Mizrahi Bank, the bank's credit portfolio in the diamond sector was sold to the company "Peninsula".
From Wikipedia’s article on Union Bank of Israel, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5