Wednesday January 31, 10:55 am Eastern Time

Israeli bourse sees wave of dual-listing in Tel Aviv

By Steven Scheer

TEL AVIV, Jan 31 (Reuters) - Most Israeli companies trading only on U.S. equity exchanges will likely opt to dual-list on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) in the near to medium term, TASE Chairman Yair Orgler said on Wednesday.

Between 50 and 60 Israeli firms traded in New York are eligible to dual-list in Tel Aviv after Israel changed its securities law in late 2000 to allow listing by the same reporting standard used for the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission.

"Most said to us they will dual-list," Orgler told reporters. "Even the largest companies said they will but whether it is in 2001 or 2002 is hard to tell."

In the past three months, five Israeli companies traded in New York have started to trade in Tel Aviv, including Tower Semiconductor (NasdaqNM:TSEM - news), Metalink (NasdaqNM:MTLK - news), Creo Scitex (NasdaqNM: SCIX - news), Blue Square Israel (NYSE:BSI - news) and Magic Software (NasdaqNM:MGIC - news). Crystal Systems Solutions (NasdaqNM:CRYS - news) will soon begin trade in Tel Aviv.

Israel's largest companies such as Check Point Software Technologies (NasdaqNM:CHKP - news) and ECI Telecom (NasdaqNM:ECIL - news) trade solely on Nasdaq.

TASE vice president Ronit Harel Ben Ze'ev acknowledged the regulations were changed at the worst possible time, as global stock markets slump and the domestic political scene is overshadowed by uncertainty.

"It's not the best time to make decisions and make changes," she said.

About 20 Israeli companies were already dual-listed, but those firms -- such as Teva Pharmaceutical Industries (NasdaqNM:TEVA - news) and Koor Industries (NYSE:KOR - news) -- first listed in Israel.

The TASE pushed hard for seamless dual-listing in an effort to boost liquidity and volume. The new regulations mean dual-listed companies do not have to translate their financial reports into Hebrew or convert dollars into shekels.

"There are no negative effects to dual-listing," Orgler said. "There's no cost to it and it will increase the company's customer base." He cited availability to more European investors, whose trading hours more closely overlap with Israel than the United States and the fact dual-listed shares will benefit from a longer stretch in trading time.

A handful of Israeli-affiliated companies like Amdocs (NYSE: DOX - news) and Comverse Technology (NasdaqNM: CMVT - news) are not eligible for dual-listing since they are incorporated in the United States.

Average daily volume in 2000 on the TASE was $115 million, up from $86 million in 1999. Orgler said he plans a road show in the near-term in London to try and court more foreign investors.

Israel was one of a handful of bourses to post a gain in 2000. Some 12 percent of its total market capitalisation in 2000 was held by international investors, up from 11 percent in 1999