Tel Aviv Stock Exchange to restructure and create crypto platform

The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) (TASE.TA) said on Monday it would reshape its ownership structure and also create a blockchain platform to allow more trading of crypto currencies in an effort to match international standards.

TASE, which went public in 2019, said it would create a new publicly traded holding company that will own 100 per cent of the bourse, which will become a private firm. Subsidiaries of the exchange will be units of the new holding company.

It said its board had given the nod to the plan but approval from the regulator and TASE shareholders were still awaited.

Under its five-year plan, TASE said it would focus on organic growth and bring in foreign investors through the expansion of international products traded and cleared on the bourse, including a relaunch of derivatives futures, it said.

Just 8 per cent of daily share trading comes from foreign investors.

The exchange said it would create a platform for digital assets using blockchain, or distributed ledger technology. This would allow the trading of digital assets while exporting proprietary technological services to smaller foreign exchanges.

As a result, the TASE said it expects a compounded annual growth rate from revenue of 10 per cent to 12 per cent through 2027.

“We will leverage our home court advantage in Israel to adopt and develop fintech and position TASE as a hub of services and products,” said TASE’s chief executive Ittai Ben Zeev.

Over the first half of 2022, the bourse earned an operating profit of 47 million shekels ($13 million) versus 55 million in all of 2021.

($1 = 3.5521 shekels)