JERUSALEM, June 11 (Reuters) – The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange said on Sunday it is making it easier for financial groups to become bourse members in its latest bid to improve trading volumes.
With listings and volumes dropping for several years, the exchange is already in the process of making significant modifications aimed at boosting trade, like taking the exchange private and loosening regulation on companies.
Now the bourse said it would remove hurdles for new institutions to become trading members, bringing it in line with other exchanges around the world, which it hopes will lead to lower transaction fees and, subsequently, more investments.
It will no longer require that members have at least 200 clients and securities portfolios valued at a minimum of 262 million shekels ($74 million). Other changes include ending a mandatory trial period for new members.
“The bourse is refreshing its rules and coming into line with the rest of the world,” said Ittai Ben-Zeev, the exchange’s chief executive.
Ben-Zeev said the new changes will “increase competition for the investing public and make the Tel Aviv bourse more dominant and accessible to the broader public.” ($1 = 3.5285 shekels) (Reporting by Ari Rabinovitch; Editing by Tova Cohen)
