Israeli cabinet ministers unanimously approved a bill to change the structure of the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange to a for-profit entity, a move to make the bourse stronger and more competitive.
Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon last week said he would submit the bill to a cabinet vote.
The stock exchange’s members approved a demutualisation plan last year for Israel’s bourse, which is struggling with falling trading volumes and a declining number of listed companies.
“This is process that will bring economic growth, strengthen the stock exchange and allow it to return to its rightful place as a central engine of growth of the Israeli economy,” Mr Kahlon said in a statement.
Also as part of the bill, the Stock Exchange would shift to Monday through Friday trading from its current Sunday to Thursday format, to align itself with global — mainly European — markets.
The move would also make Israel’s stock exchange more competitive, enable it to cooperate with foreign exchanges and end Israeli banks’ control over the exchange, he said.