Nasdaq and Tel-Aviv Stock Exchange Sign Landmark Strategic Agreement

Will Form a New Joint Platform for Private Israeli Growth Companies

Tel-Aviv to Expand Business and Boost Trading Technology With Genium INET

NEW YORK and TEL AVIV, Israel, Jan. 06, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --  Nasdaq (Nasdaq:NDAQ) and Tel-Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) have officially announced a strategic cooperation. The two have agreed to form a jointly-operated venture to support private growth companies in Israel. The venture, which will operate out of Tel Aviv, will offer various benefits to private companies including strategic counseling and mentoring, exclusive networking, a secondary market for liquidity events and debt financing services.  The private market will have an independent management team chosen by both exchanges. Further details of the venture will be announced during first half of 2016.

In addition, Tel-Aviv Stock Exchange has entered into an agreement to deploy Nasdaq’s Genium INET technology for trading across a variety of asset classes including equities, derivatives, bonds, fixed income, as well as commodities. The technology overhaul will support TASE’s growth focus to attract capital both domestically and internationally, and run cutting-edge technology based on international standards and best practices.

“We are proud of this important agreement with TASE, which brings both technology and innovation together in a very ambitious way,” said Sandy Frucher, Vice Chairman, Nasdaq. “By leveraging our world-renowned Genium INET platform, TASE will have limitless opportunity to expand their product and business offerings to the domestic and international markets. Further, our collaboration to build a private market to support regional growth companies will also enhance Tel Aviv as a capital markets hub. Our own successful history creating public and—recently in the U.S.—private markets only underscores our sincere commitment to developing this new and exciting venture. We look forward to a long and successful partnership with TASE.”

"The cooperation with Nasdaq is great news for the Tel-Aviv Stock Exchange and the Israeli economy,” said Yossi Beinart, CEO of TASE. "For the first time we can offer Israeli companies a real solution to challenges in their growth and give them a real alternative to an exit, so that they will continue to operate as independent companies with significant operations in Israel. The new joint market will offer various models for raising capital to companies not yet ripe to go public and to be a bridge for their desire to continue development in Israel and later in markets worldwide. The exchange system we are adopting is the cutting edge of trading technology in accordance with the standard accepted worldwide and will help us to stand as equals with the leading markets facing rapid changes in the global world. We would like to thank the Nasdaq for their vote of confidence in the Tel-Aviv Stock Exchange and in Israeli growth companies, and we look forward to realizing together the tremendous potential of this cooperation.”

Nasdaq's exchange technology, including trading, clearing, CSD and market surveillance systems, is in operation in over 100 marketplaces across North and Latin America, Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa and the Middle East.

About Nasdaq 

Nasdaq (Nasdaq:NDAQ) is a leading provider of trading, clearing, exchange technology, listing, information and public company services across six continents. Through its diverse portfolio of solutions, Nasdaq enables customers to plan, optimize and execute their business vision with confidence, using proven technologies that provide transparency and insight for navigating today's global capital markets. As the creator of the world's first electronic stock market, its technology powers more than 70 marketplaces in 50 countries, and 1 in 10 of the world's securities transactions. Nasdaq is home to more than 3,600 listed companies with a market value of approximately $9.6 trillion and more than 10,000 corporate clients. To learn more, visit: nasdaq.com/ambition or business.nasdaq.com.

About TASE
Established in September 1953, the Tel-Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) is an efficient one-stop shop for the Israeli securities industry, hosting an increasingly sophisticated range of products available to investors, including shares, corporate bonds, treasury bills and bonds, index-tracking products and derivatives.  The exchange is home to 461 listed companies with a total market capitalization of U.S.$200 billion, 597 corporate bonds and 640 Exchange-Traded Notes.  TASE is a fully-automated exchange with a central order book trading system, providing clearing, settlement and depository services to local and international investors. To learn more Visit TASE.

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Media Contacts 

• For Nasdaq: 
  Ryan Wells ([email protected] or +44 (0) 7809 596 390)
  
• For TASE: 
  Orna Goren ([email protected] or +972 (0) 52 523400843) 
  Yael Arnon ([email protected] or +972 (0) 52 7202703