Adjustments to Proper Conduct of Banking Business Directives for Dealing with the Coronavirus (Temporary Provision)

Bank of Israel
Banking Supervision Department
Policy and Regulation Division
April 1, 2020
Circular no. C-06-2614
Attn:
Banking corporations and credit card companies Re: Adjustments to Proper Conduct of Banking Business Directives for Dealing with the Coronavirus (Temporary Provision) (Proper Conduct of Banking Business Directive no. 250) Introduction

1. Against the background of the guidelines by the Ministry of Health to reduce activity and the
   increased stringency of the limitations on traffic in the public space, and in order to allow continuity in the provision of banking services to the public, while maintaing its health and the health of bank employees, following are several easing steps that we formulated as temporary provisions.
2. After consultation with the Advisory Committee on Banking Business Affairs, and with the
   consent of the Governor, I have established the following Proper Conduct of Banking Business Directive as detailed below. Main Points of the Update to the Directive Proper Conduct of Banking Business Directive no. 355 on “Business Continuity Management” (Section 12)
3. In place of the provisions of Section 12 of Proper Conduct of Banking Business Directive no.
   250 (hereinafter, “Directive 250”), Opening branches in a period of real concern of an adverse impact to the health of the public shall be as follows:
   3.1 The share of branches that will be open to the public shall be not less than 15 percent of
   the total number of the banking corporation’s branches (hereinafter, customer in-person branches);
   3.2 Customer in-person branches shall provide only cash withdrawal and deposit services
   and check withdrawal and deposit services. The provision of other services is subject to advance coordination and availability of the service at the branch.
   3.3 The Supervisor of Banks may establish different directives regarding the opening of
   customer in-person branches for the public on specific days and regarding the services that will be provided there, if the Supervisor finds that the customer in-person branches are insufficient for providing a suitable service level during those days.

Explanatory remarks
In view of the the guidelines by the Ministry of Health to reduce activity and the increased stringency of the limitations on traffic in the public space, bank branches’ activity shall be concentrated at designated branches, spread throughout the country. The Directive defines the services that will be provided at those branches. We expect that the banking corporations will continue to act to encourage customers to switch to receiving services via digital channels and via phone. Update of file
3. Update pages for the Proper Conduct of Banking Business Directive file are attached.
Following are the provisions of the update:
Remove page Insert page
(March 31, 2020) [2] 250-1-4 (April 1, 2020) [3] 250-1-4 Respectfully, Dr. Hedva Ber Supervisor of Banks