Fonds JM-CZA/Institutions/4/L51 - Anglo-Palestine Company, Anglo-Palestine Bank (Bank Leumi le-Israel)

At its foundation, the Anglo-Palestine Company (APC) was a banking subsidiary of the Jewish Colonial Trust, created in 1898 at the instigation of Theodor Herzl and of the Zionist Organization in order to fund an eventual establishment of the State of Israel. It was incorporated in 1902 in London.
In 1903, the bank opened its first branch in Jaffa. Between 1904 and 1907, new branches were opened in Jerusalem, Beirut and Hebron, and, in 1923, in Tel Aviv.
In 1930, the APC changed its name to Anglo-Palestine Bank (APB).
When the State of Israel was created, in 1948, the APB became its central bank. In 1950, it was registered in Tel Aviv with a new name: Bank Leumi Ie Israel (meaning "national bank of Israel"). Four years later, as the Bank of Israel was created by the State, Bank Leumi Ie Israel became a commercial bank. It was then extended by the establishment of branches in the United States of America (from 1954) and in London (1959).
The banking group which emerged at this time simplified its name to "Bank Leumi" or "Leumi".