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Israel Halts Bank Sale Talks: The government...

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From Times Staff and Wire Reports

Israel Halts Bank Sale Talks: The government suspended negotiations with Raphael Recanati, who wants to repurchase IDB, a banking group built around Israel Discount Bank. Central bank officials urged the government not to sell the nation’s third-largest bank to Recanati, its ousted owner, because he is facing a fraud trial. Recanati and 16 other senior Israeli bankers were indicted last month. They are accused of manipulating their bank’s share prices in the early 1980s, causing them to rise above their real value. Share prices collapsed in 1983, forcing the government to step in and buy them for more than $3.5 billion.

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