Tel Aviv Stock Exchange seeks to broaden appeal

The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) said on Tuesday it is considering a new plan to try to enhance liquidity and improve transparency to try to attract more ordinary investors.

The plan would impose restrictions on off-exchange transactions and provide an incentive programme for market making in shares in the Tel Aviv 35 index, similar to those available in leading exchanges worldwide. TASE, which went public in August, has lost 40% of investors since 2010. With 447 traded companies at a market value of $215 billion, the exchange has been struggling with delistings and declining trading volumes.

In 2019, nearly 23% of the total volume of securities trading on TASE derived from transactions entered into off the exchange - some 80,000 a year, averaging 800,000 shekels ($231,000) per transaction.