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IDB Bank is a subsidiary of Israel Discount Bank Limited, "IDB Ltd." (www.discountbank.net), which is headquartered in Tel-Aviv, Israel. Founded in 1935 by the late Mr. Leon Recanati, IDB Ltd. is one of the three largest commercial banks in Israel and one of the 300 largest banks in the world. IDB Ltd. and its subsidiaries have a network of branches and representative offices in Israel and abroad, with several thousand employees. Outside of Israel, in addition to its subsidiaries IDB Bank and Israel Discount Bank (Switzerland), IDB Ltd. maintains overseas branches in London and the Cayman Islands. IDB Ltd. also has representative offices in Berlin, Buenos Aires, Paris, Santiago and São Paulo and enjoys an extensive international network of correspondent banks. IDB Ltd. began its operations in New York City in 1949, when it established a representative office. At that time there were only a few employees and limited contact with the public. In 1962, IDB Ltd. became one of the first foreign banks to open a branch in New York when the New York State banking law was changed to allow foreign banks to operate branches here. In 1967, Israel Discount Bank Ltd. acquired the Hias Immigrant Bank and changed the name to IDB Trust Company, an FDIC-insured institution. Ultimately, in 1980, the branch's assets were transferred to the renamed, wholly-owned IDB Ltd. subsidiary, Israel Discount Bank of New York. "IDBNY" also took over a major portion of the western hemisphere banking operations of its Tel-Aviv parent. Subsequently, the Bank took on more contemporary nomenclature with the registered service mark "IDB Bank." In March 2000, IDB Bank became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Discount Bancorp, Inc., a Delaware holding company it formed to hold its shares. The latest significant milestone in the Bank's history occurred in late January 2006, when the sale of controlling interest in IDB Ltd. by the State of Israel to a private consortium led by international businessman Matthew Bronfman and real estate investor Rubin Schron was concluded; this marked the birth of an exciting new era in the annals of IDB Bank. In addition to their 26% ownership of IDB Ltd.'s outstanding stock, the buyers also received an option, for a period of three years, to purchase an additional 25% of the outstanding stock. This change of control represents an extremely positive and invigorating milestone that we are confident will be the catalyst to an even stronger and more competitive institution.