The company was established in October 1940 by the Farmers’ Federation of the Land of Israel, as a mortgage bank for citrus growers in particular and farmers in general, and as part of the economic institutions of the Federation (which also included an HMO, a magazine, an agricultural school, marketing and shipping companies, etc.).
During its first year of operation, the company granted 251 loans totaling PP 79,097, with its profits reaching PP 1,551. In addition to issuing stock, the company issued 20-year bonds, which were partially repaid as early as 1944. Following the establishment of the State of Israel, the company failed to raise $2 million at a bond issue on Wall Street. The Farmers’ Mortgage Association’s bonds were traded in the early 1950s on the Securities Clearing House (later the Stock Exchange) in Tel Aviv.
After the State of Israel was founded, the company experienced a shortage of deposits and working capital, relying instead on government deposits. Towards the end of the 1950s, the company came under the supervision of the Bank of Israel, and on June 1962 ceased to operate as a financial institution. Its banking operations were transferred to the Zerubabel Bank. The company’s chairman accused the Bank of Israel of overburdening the company with requirements, “a situation which made work impossible”.
The certificate is signed by Eliezer Yacobson (1881-1943), one of the leaders of the Farmers’ Federation and company’s founders; Moshe Ichilov (1903-1957), one of the main leaders of the Farmers’ Federation and later Deputy Mayor of Tel Aviv (the Ichilov hospital is named after him); Secretary General Zvi Nehemiah Botkowsky (1886-1943), one of the leaders of the city of Hadera and the Manufacturers’ Association of Israel.
(From Barlev collection of Securities Certificates)