Moshe Tery, Chairman of the Israel Securities Authority (ISA), and AMF Chairman Michel Prada signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on 28 January 2008 covering the equivalence of prospectuses in France and Israel, with a view to admission to trading on a regulated market in either country.
The agreement follows on from recognition by both authorities of the equivalence of French and Israeli prospectuses, further to the provisions of Article 20 of the Prospectus Directive 1 in Europe and Israeli law.
Under the terms of the MoU, an Israeli company whose securities are already or about to be listed on the Israeli market and that is applying for admission to trading on a French regulated market will be able to use the documents previously approved by or filed with the Israeli authorities for the purposes of obtaining a Paris listing. The ISA will confirm to the AMF that the prospectus in question complies with Israeli law and regulations and includes all the items provided for in the MoU. Conversely, the process will be identical for a French company seeking admission to trading on an Israeli market.
The agreement applies to:- companies registered in Israel or France whose securities are traded on either the Israeli regulated market (specifically the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange) or the French regulated market and that want to apply for listing on the other market;
- companies wishing to list simultaneously on the French and Israeli regulated markets by preparing a single prospectus that complies with the MoU.
The MoU covers all applications for admission to a regulated market, either subsequent to a private placement to qualified investors or via technical quotation. It may also cover the case of Israeli companies wishing to make a public offering in France, provided they satisfy the supplemental requirements applicable to this type of offering under French regulations. Furthermore, the MoU states that the two authorities will cooperate regularly through a specially formed joint committee to ensure that the provisions of the agreement are properly implemented.
