Tel Aviv Stock Exchange

The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) is Israel’s only stock exchange and the main organized marketplace for Israeli securities trading, listings and capital raising. It operates equity, bond, exchange-traded fund, derivatives and government securities markets, and functions as a key market infrastructure institution in Israel’s financial system.^[1]

History and development

Organized securities trading in the area that became Israel predates the formal exchange. TASE’s own historical materials trace the origins of local organized securities trading to 1935, when the “Exchange Bureau for Securities” was established by the British Anglo-Palestine Bank and operated as a small securities market using rules customary on European exchanges.^[2]

The Tel-Aviv Stock Exchange Ltd. was incorporated in Israel on September 28, 1953 as a company limited by guarantee under the Companies Ordinance, 1929.^[3] According to TASE’s ESG report, the exchange was founded in 1953 as a non-profit organization, and was created to institutionalize securities trading after the establishment of the State of Israel.^[1][2]

The legal and regulatory environment changed significantly after the enactment of Israel’s Securities Law. TASE reported that, following the Securities Law, it was granted a license in 1969 to manage a stock exchange under section 45(A) of that law.^[3] The Israel Securities Authority is the national securities regulator and supervises major parts of the public securities market.

TASE’s operations became progressively more automated. Its historical timeline records the activation of a computerized auction system in 1991 and the closure of trading floors with full automation of securities trading in 1999.^[2] This shift placed trading, order matching and market data distribution within an electronic exchange model rather than a physical floor-based model.

Ownership restructuring and listing

A major institutional change occurred in 2017, when TASE’s ownership structure was reformed. TASE describes 2017 as the year in which ownership restructuring was approved, converting it into a for-profit company and separating ownership and control from membership in the exchange.^[1] In a later report, TASE stated that the Tel Aviv District Court approved the demutualization arrangement on September 7, 2017.^[4]

TASE became a public company in 2019. Its 2020 annual reporting described a secondary offering prospectus dated July 24, 2019 and the listing of 100,000,000 ordinary shares on TASE on August 1, 2019.^[4] As a result, TASE is both the operator of Israel’s securities exchange and a listed company on that exchange.

This structure is broadly comparable to the demutualized model used by several international exchanges, in which the exchange operator is a commercial company while continuing to operate regulated market infrastructure. In Israel, this arrangement is governed through securities law, exchange rules and regulatory oversight rather than through an investor-protection mandate held by TASE itself.

Markets and instruments

TASE provides trading and listing infrastructure for a range of instruments. Its public materials describe it as the venue for securities trading and for raising equity and debt by companies and by the Government of Israel in the Israeli capital market.^[1] Its markets include shares, corporate bonds, government bonds, exchange-traded funds, derivatives and short-term central-bank bills known as Makam.^[5]

Equity trading is one of TASE’s central functions. The exchange provides listing and secondary-market trading for Israeli public companies, including companies from sectors such as technology, real estate, commerce and services, industry, biomed, financial services, energy, insurance and banking.^[6] Large Israeli banks listed or represented in the capital market ecosystem include Bank Leumi, Bank Hapoalim, Israel Discount Bank and Mizrahi-Tefahot Bank.

The bond market is another major component. TASE serves as a marketplace for government debt and corporate debt, and its development of the corporate bond market is listed as a milestone in TASE’s historical materials for 2007.^[2] Bond trading is important in Israel because institutional savings vehicles, including Kupat Gemel funds and Keren Hishtalmut funds, are major domestic investors.

TASE also lists and trades exchange-traded funds, which give investors market exposure through listed securities that track indices or baskets of assets. The local ETF market connects the exchange to global asset-management practices and to the wider concept of the exchange-traded fund.

Clearing, settlement and group structure

TASE operates through a group structure that includes exchange and post-trade functions. Its 2025 interim financial statements state that the group includes TASE and subsidiaries, including the TASE Clearing House Ltd. and MAOF Clearing House Ltd.^[7]

The TASE Clearing House provides central securities depository services and acts as a central counterparty for securities transactions, according to TASE’s 2024 ESG report.^[1] A central securities depository records and settles securities ownership, while a central counterparty interposes itself between buyers and sellers in certain transactions in order to reduce counterparty risk and facilitate orderly settlement.

MAOF Clearing House is described by TASE as a wholly owned subsidiary engaged primarily in issuing and clearing options and futures derivatives.^[7] This structure separates parts of the exchange’s trading, securities settlement and derivatives clearing activities while keeping them inside the TASE group.

Listed companies and dual listings

TASE is the principal listing venue for Israeli issuers. Its 2025 annual report stated that, as of the end of 2025, 546 companies were traded on the exchange.^[6] The same report said that 26 new companies joined the equity market during 2025, including 21 that completed share IPOs, while 13 companies were delisted during the year.^[6]

Dual listings are a distinctive part of TASE’s equity market. As of year-end 2025, TASE reported that 49 companies whose shares were also listed on foreign exchanges, including in the United States, the United Kingdom and Singapore, were traded on TASE.^[6] TASE stated that these dual-listed companies represented about 25% of total market capitalization and about 25% of total average daily trading volume in its equity market, excluding ETFs.^[6]

Dual-listing arrangements allow certain companies traded abroad to also trade in Israel, subject to applicable Israeli rules. For Israeli investors, these listings can broaden access to securities of Israeli-linked or international companies without requiring direct use of a foreign exchange account. For issuers, the arrangements can provide access to a domestic investor base and local visibility.

Indices and market data

TASE calculates and publishes a range of market indices, including broad and sectoral equity indices. Its historical materials note an index reform in 2017, intended to broaden sectoral dispersion within indices, improve index stability and encourage foreign investors to invest in TASE indices.^[2] The best-known indices include large-cap and broad-market benchmarks such as TA-35, TA-90 and TA-125.

TASE also sells and distributes market data. Like other exchange operators, its revenue model is not limited to transaction fees; it includes listing fees, clearing fees, information services and technology-related services. These activities make TASE both a regulated infrastructure provider and a commercial market-data and services company.

Role in Israeli finance

TASE is central to Israeli finance because it links issuers, investors, brokers, institutional funds and government borrowers in a regulated marketplace. Companies can raise equity or debt, the government can issue tradable securities, and investors can buy and sell instruments through exchange members.

The exchange’s importance is reinforced by the size of Israel’s institutional savings sector and by the role of public markets in pricing corporate and government risk. TASE’s domestic market functions alongside the Bank of Israel, which conducts monetary policy and issues central-bank bills, and the Israel Securities Authority, which regulates securities-market conduct and disclosure.

TASE is also part of the international exchange community. The World Federation of Exchanges lists the Tel-Aviv Stock Exchange among its members, placing it within a global association of exchanges and clearing houses.^[8] This membership reflects TASE’s role as a national exchange connected to international standards, market data practices and cross-border securities activity.