Israel's Hapoalim provisions another $246 million for U.S. tax probe

Bank Hapoalim, one of Israel’s two largest lenders, said on Thursday it will set aside an additional $246 million to cover a potential settlement in a U.S. investigation of possible tax evasion by the bank’s clients.

This provision, to be taken in the fourth quarter of 2018, will bring the bank’s total provision to $611 million, or 2.29 billion shekels, Hapoalim said in a regulatory filing in Tel Aviv, noting it had held talks with U.S. Department of Justice officials in recent weeks.

Hapoalim, which has suspended dividend payments due to the uncertainty of the probe, said the final amount will likely be significantly higher that what it has so far provisioned.

Hapoalim said its last meeting with DOJ officials was on March 5.

Rival Bank Leumi in 2014 agreed to pay $400 million to settle two separate investigations into whether it helped U.S. clients evade taxes.