The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) and its New York counterpart (NYSE) have signed a new cooperative agreement to boost cross listing of trading. More than 100 Israeli companies, mostly in the high-tech industry, are currently traded on the NYSE, NASDAQ and other exchanges. The agreement with NYSE is aimed at encouraging more Israeli companies to list their securities in New York and Europe as well as on the TASE in order to attract international investors.
"The signing of the (agreement) with NYSE Euronext is another very important step forward in the globalization of the Israeli capital market," said Ester Levanon, chief executive of the TASE.
The move comes on the heels of similar agreements signed last year with the London stock exchange and NASDAQ and enables the TASE to promote Israeli companies to investors. Israel's strong and stable economic growth have helped put Israel on the road to be upgraded from an emerging market to a developed market, opening up the country to more institutional investors looking for stable investments.
Seven Israeli companies, such as Amdocs and Cellcom, trade their securities on the prestigious NYSE. Other companies, including the giant Teva Pharmaceuticals and Scandisk, trade their stocks on the NASDAQ, where Israel has the largest representation of stocks after the United States and Canada.
The NYSE estimated the dollar value of trading in NYSE-listed Israeli firms at a staggering $6.1 billion compared with a paltry $320,000 in 2001. The TASE's 653 listed companies have a combined value of $208 billion.
The TASE's 653 listed companies have a combined value of $208 billion.
Tel Aviv and New York have been developing closer ties in the past two years, and an Israeli executive last November rang the traditional bell signaling the opening of the trading day in New York. TASE vice president Ronit Harel Ben-Zev rang the opening bell on Monday in honor of the new agreement.
On the downside, TASE workers staged a walkout Tuesday, shutting down trading for the second time in a month. They are demanding the practice of using manpower agencies.