The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange Continues to Upgrade the Israeli Capital Market - Developing a Repo Market in Israel

A joint initiative by the Accountant General Department at the Ministry of Finance, the Bank of Israel, the Israel Securities Authority, and the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange to develop and advance the Repo market

TEL AVIV, Israel, Feb. 6, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The Accountant General Department at the Ministry of Finance, the Bank of Israel, the Israel Securities Authority, and the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE: TASE) jointly published this morning a call for proposals to assess the feasibility of developing and advancing a Repo (Repurchase Transactions) market in Israel.

Repo transactions are a key financing tool for many financial institutions and market participants in developed markets worldwide. In Israel, this market remains limited and underdeveloped. Therefore, the joint taskforce considers it essential to identify challenges and barriers and promote solutions that will enable the development of a sophisticated Repo market in Israel.

Repo transactions involve the transfer of cash by one party in the transaction in exchange for collateral in the form of a security, such as government bonds or other low-risk assets. In a Repo transaction, the party transferring the security sells it to a second party, with an agreement to repurchase it at a predetermined date.

The Bank of Israel, the Accountant General Department at the Ministry of Finance, the Israel Securities Authority and TASE jointly invite all relevant parties, within and outside Israel, to provide their input to help identify challenges and develop effective solutions. This call for proposals seeks input on key issues including barriers, preferred mechanisms for connecting Repo transactions, assets with potential to serve as collateral for Repo transactions in Israel, the contribution of Repo transactions to liquidity solutions in both Israeli Shekels and foreign currencies, preferred operational models, and other relevant issues.

A well-developed and sophisticated Repo market in Israel has many and varied advantages, such as providing alternative investment avenues for local institutional investors and the general public, generating additional returns, providing a tool for liquidity management and fundraising in both Israeli Shekels and foreign currencies, enhancing the liquidity and marketability of securities used as collateral for Repo transactions, such as government bonds, and making the local capital market and the assets traded in it more readily accessible to foreign investors and international institutional investors.

The joint taskforce invites the public to participate in the call for proposals and share their positions and recommendations to promote efficient solutions.

Written responses should be submitted by March 13, 2025 to Mr. Dan Kamieniecki, The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, via email: [email protected] 

For the full call for proposals on MAYA: https://maya.tase.co.il/en/reports/details/1644909

Contact:
Orna Goren
Head of Communication and Public Relations Unit
Tel: +972 76 8160405
[email protected]

SOURCE The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange Ltd.