TA-Banks 5 Index

The TA-Banks 5 Index is a Tel Aviv Stock Exchange equity index that measures the performance of five large Israeli bank shares meeting the exchange’s index criteria. It is a sector index for listed commercial banks, used as a benchmark for Israel’s publicly traded banking sector and for index-linked products and derivatives.^[1]

Overview

The TA-Banks 5 Index, known in Hebrew as **TA-Banks-5** or **ת״א בנקים-5**, is maintained by the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE). TASE describes it as a premium index of bank shares comprising the five largest shares in the banks sector that meet the index threshold conditions.^[1] Its TASE index code is 164, its ISIN is IL00BIDX1642, its Bloomberg code is TA-BANK5, and its Reuters RIC is .TELBANK5.^[1]

The index is narrower than broad Israeli equity benchmarks such as the TA-35 Index, because it is limited to a single sector. It is also more concentrated than TASE sector indices that include a larger number of financial companies. Its economic exposure is therefore primarily to the profitability, capital strength, funding costs, credit quality and regulation of Israel’s listed banks, rather than to the general Israeli equity market.

TASE classifies the index as an investment index and publishes it continuously, every 15 seconds during the trading day.^[1] Because the index is calculated and disseminated by the local exchange, it is also a reference point for domestic market data vendors, exchange-traded products, listed derivatives, and institutional benchmarking. TASE’s live data pages present the index level, daily change, turnover, market capitalization, recent trading days and historical data.^[2]

Constituents and sector exposure

The index contains five securities.^[1] In practice, the Israeli listed bank universe has historically been dominated by a small number of banking groups, including Bank Leumi, Bank Hapoalim, Israel Discount Bank, Mizrahi-Tefahot Bank and First International Bank of Israel. TASE’s index pages identify the TA-Banks 5 Index as consisting of the five largest bank-sector shares that pass the index requirements, so the composition is tied to market capitalization and eligibility rules rather than to discretionary selection.^[1]

The index is therefore not a diversified cross-sector equity benchmark. It is a concentrated indicator of Israeli bank equity performance. Banks’ share prices may be affected by interest-rate changes, loan growth, deposit competition, credit-loss provisions, capital requirements, mortgage and real-estate exposure, and macroeconomic conditions. In Israel, banking supervision is conducted by the Banking Supervision Department at the Bank of Israel, whose functions include supervising banking corporations’ stability, proper conduct and fair business relations with customers.^[6]

The TA-Banks 5 Index is also distinct from the broader TA-Bank Index. TASE has separately maintained a TA-Bank sector index, and in 2023 announced the launch of new indices including TA-Banks as part of an equity index rebalance notice.^[5] The TA-Banks 5 Index remains the specific five-stock bank benchmark with TASE index code 164.^[1]

Calculation, weighting and publication

TASE’s index page states that the TA-Banks 5 Index has a 33% weight cap and five securities.^[1] A weight cap limits the maximum weight of any single constituent in the index at rebalancing or under the exchange’s index methodology. For a five-stock bank index, the cap is important because the two largest Israeli banks can otherwise represent a very large portion of bank-sector market capitalization.

The index is disseminated in real time every 15 seconds during the trading day.^[1] Real-time publication allows market participants to compare bank shares, index-tracking instruments and derivatives with the benchmark during trading hours. TASE’s market data pages also show end-of-day information, recent daily closing values, trading turnover and market capitalization data.^[2][3]

TASE reported that, on 28 July 2026, the index closed at 8,307.57, with turnover of 669,322.80 thousand shekels and market capitalization of 319,429 million shekels.^[3] TASE’s main data page showed an index level of 8,332.37 at 17:00 on 30 July 2026, with market capitalization of 314,772 million shekels as of 29 July 2026.^[2] These figures are time-specific market data, not permanent characteristics of the index.

TASE’s index pages also present historical data. For example, the exchange’s historical-data table for late June to late July 2026 lists daily base price, opening price, closing price, high, low and overall market capitalization for the TA-Banks 5 Index.^[3] Such data are used for performance measurement, back-testing, fund reporting, risk analysis and derivative settlement processes.

History

The TA-Banks 5 Index was launched on 3 January 1999, with a base value of 366.88.^[1] TASE states that historical data for the index begin on the same date, while historical data on the exchange website begin on 2 January 2000.^[1] TASE also states that it is an old index with no back test.^[1]

The index was originally launched as the **TA-Banks Index** and was rebranded as the **TA-Banks 5 Index** from 9 February 2017.^[1] The rebranding took place in the broader context of TASE’s index reforms. TASE’s 2017 methodology changes were described in TASE reporting as intended to reduce index concentration and make index composition more stable, with new rules related to index tracking, free float and inclusion standards.^[8]

Earlier public communications about TASE methodology changes emphasized stability, lower concentration and lower risk for index-tracking instruments. A 2015 TASE-related announcement said the proposed new methodology was designed to improve stability and reduce risk in TASE indices; it also noted that a high share of capital invested in TASE equity indices was concentrated in the flagship indices and TA-Banks.^[9] A later TASE announcement stated that the TA Banks-5 constituent weight cap would be set at 33% as part of the implementation of index cap reductions.^[10]

Role in Israel’s capital market

The TA-Banks 5 Index functions as a compact market gauge for Israeli banks. Because banks are major intermediaries in credit, deposits and payments, their listed equity performance is often read alongside macroeconomic indicators, monetary policy developments and regulatory news. The index is not itself a banking-system stability measure, but it is a market-price indicator for listed bank equity.

The index also has relevance for investors and institutions that use sector benchmarks. An exchange-traded fund, index mutual fund, structured product or institutional mandate may use an index to define a target exposure, compare performance, or calculate fees and tracking error. TASE’s website includes pages for index-tracking ETFs and index funds in its index navigation, indicating that exchange indices are integrated into local fund and product infrastructure.^[2]

For Israeli savers, bank-sector exposure can appear indirectly through pension funds, provident funds, advanced training funds and mutual funds. Vehicles such as Kupat Gemel and Keren Hishtalmut may hold Israeli equities directly or through funds, although the TA-Banks 5 Index itself is not a savings product. It is an index and does not hold assets.

Because the index is sector-specific and contains only five constituents, it is more concentrated than broad-market indices. A change in the share price of one large constituent can have a visible effect on the index, although the 33% cap reduces the maximum contribution of any one constituent.^[1] The index’s movements may therefore diverge materially from the TA-35 Index or from all-share benchmarks during periods when banks outperform or underperform the wider market.

Derivatives and linked instruments

TASE lists derivatives with the TA-Banks 5 Index as the underlying index. Its derivatives page identifies “Derivatives Index TA-Banks5,” with index code 164 and contract information for TA-Banks 5 index derivatives.^[4] A TASE derivatives specification document also lists the TA Banks-5 Index under index derivatives and states that the contract multiplier is 10 and that trading is available.^[7]

Index derivatives allow market participants to gain, hedge or transfer exposure to the index without trading each underlying bank share separately. They may be used for hedging bank-sector portfolios, implementing tactical sector views, or managing exposure around rebalancing and reporting dates. Derivatives also introduce leverage, margin and settlement considerations, so their role differs from that of an unlevered index-tracking fund.

TASE’s derivatives and cash-equity infrastructure means the same benchmark can be used across market data, funds and exchange-traded derivative contracts. That multi-use role is common for sector indices in developed equity markets, but the TA-Banks 5 Index is particularly narrow because it captures only the largest qualifying listed banks in one national market.

Regulation and institutional context

The TA-Banks 5 Index sits at the intersection of securities-market infrastructure and banking regulation. TASE operates and publishes the index, while listed companies and funds are subject to Israel’s securities-market framework, including the Israel Securities Authority. The banks represented in the index are banking corporations supervised by the Bank of Israel’s Banking Supervision Department.^[6]

The Bank of Israel states that banking supervision is necessary because the banking system plays a central role in a modern economy, receives much of the public’s savings, provides credit to households and businesses, and performs essential payment functions.^[6] It lists the Banking Supervision Department’s functions as including supervision of stability, proper conduct and fair bank-customer relations.^[6]

This regulatory context matters for an index of bank shares because regulation can influence bank capital, liquidity, dividends, risk appetite and competition. However, the index methodology is an exchange matter, not a prudential regulation. The TA-Banks 5 Index records market prices of eligible listed bank shares; it does not assess whether banks are safe, sound or suitable for depositors or investors.

Interpretation and limitations

The TA-Banks 5 Index is often useful as a shorthand measure of Israeli listed bank equity performance. It can indicate whether bank shares are rising or falling as a group, whether the bank sector is outperforming the wider market, and how market participants are pricing the sector’s earnings and risk outlook. It is also a transparent reference for products that need a rules-based bank-sector benchmark.

Its limitations follow from its design. The index is small, sector-specific and country-specific. It excludes non-bank financial companies unless they qualify as bank-sector shares under the relevant TASE classification and index rules. It also excludes unlisted banks, foreign banks operating in Israel but not represented by eligible local shares, and non-equity measures of bank conditions such as deposit flows, loan delinquencies, regulatory capital ratios and liquidity coverage.

The index should therefore be distinguished from measures of the Israeli banking system as a whole. It reflects stock-market prices of five listed bank shares, not all financial institutions and not all banking-system risks. Its level and returns can be affected by equity-market sentiment, fund flows, dividend expectations and valuation changes, even when banks’ underlying balance-sheet indicators change more slowly.

See also

- Tel Aviv Stock Exchange - Bank of Israel - Bank Hapoalim - Bank Leumi - Israel Discount Bank - Mizrahi-Tefahot Bank - First International Bank of Israel - TA-35 Index - Exchange-Traded Fund