Tel Aviv Stock Exchange

34°46′14″N 32°03′52″E / 34.77059°N 32.06455°E / 34.77059; 32.06455

The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE; Hebrew: הַבּוּרְסָה לִנְיָירוֹת עֵרֶךְ בְּתֵל אָבִיב), colloquially known as The Bursa, is the only public stock exchange in Israel and a public company itself, listed on its own exchange since August 1, 2019. It is regulated by the Securities Law (1968) and is under the direct supervision of the Israel Securities Authority (ISA).

The TASE plays a significant role in the Israeli economy, facilitating the trade of securities and the raising of capital and debt for companies and the government on the Israeli capital market. Trading on the TASE is conducted exclusively through its 23 members, which include major banks and investment houses that collect a fee for their services.

The TASE was founded in 1953, with its precursor dating back to 1935. As of 2021, it lists 473 companies, 901 series of corporate bonds, 204 series of government bonds, 416 index-tracking products, and 1,231 mutual funds. The exchange's market capitalization for equities stands at NIS 2 trillion.

The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange was established in 1953. Even prior to this, commencing in 1935, securities trading was carried out in the Land of Israel and, afterwards, in the State of Israel at the mandate-period Anglo-Palestine Bank (today, Bank Leumi). The trade was conducted at the bank, in the office of Mordechai Pinchas Hasson, an Israeli banker who was one of the founders of the Exchange Bureau of Securities and the CEO of Bank Leumi. In the office that served as the stock exchange, daily trading within the framework of the "Exchange Bureau of Securities" lasted for just one hour. Among those that conceived the original idea were bankers who had immigrated from Germany such as Max Kollenscher and his brother Leo. In 1968, TASE activity was regulated by law and the Israel Securities Authority, which supervises TASE activity, was established.

In 1983, TASE was hit by the bank stock crisis, during which the share price of Israel's four largest banks collapsed – resulting in the state's nationalization of the banks and a third of the public's investment in them being wiped out. In the same year, TASE moved from its premises at 113 Allenby Street to a building at 54 Ahad Ha'Am Street, Tel Aviv. In 1993, trade in derivatives commenced. In 1999, TASE brought down the curtain on the trading floors era and completed the changeover to fully automated trading making use of a "continuous" trading system (TACT). In 2000, the Knesset passed Amendment No. 21 to the Securities Law, which makes it easier for companies whose shares are listed in the United States, to also list in Tel Aviv ("dual listing"). In July 2005, dual listing was expanded to include companies listed on the London Stock Exchange's Main Market and the Nasdaq Small Cap Market. Today, tens of dual-listed companies are traded on TASE (being listed in Tel Aviv and on overseas exchanges, in parallel). In 2005, market makers began operating on TASE. In 2007, the annual volume of securities and convertibles hit a new record of NIS 593.2 billion.

Since 2008, after the 2008 financial crisis, the tightening of the regulatory regime in which TASE operates (by the Israel Securities Authority, the Capital Market, Insurance and Savings Division at the Israeli Ministry of Finance, the Anti-Money Laundering Authority, etc.) and other factors, the number of trading participants and trading volumes have become less significant. In 2012, the annual volume of securities and convertibles amounted to just NIS 265.1 billion (a 54% decrease) – the lowest volume since 2004.

In 2016, TASE launched an analysis project for high-tech companies, within the framework of which the international research company, Frost and Sullivan, publishes informational and financial analyses regarding technology and biomed companies that are listed on TASE.