Officers at dual-listed companies can breathe a sigh of relief. The Israel Securities Authority will not require dual-listed companies to publish executive compensation. The reason for their anxiety was the fear that the regulator would force them to conform to the new policy of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NYSE: TEVA; TASE: TEVA), which has agreed to disclose figures on executive compensation in its 2013 annual financial report, following class action suit filed against the company early this year.
However, following the latest wave of departures, in which Israeli companies such as Mellanox Technologies Ltd. (Nasdaq:MLNX; TASE:MLNX) decided to delist from the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE), it seems that the Securities Authority, under chairman Shmuel Hauser, decided to ease up on dual-listed companies to prevent them from leaving the TASE.
Today, the Securities Authority published a position paper, which states that the current scope of disclosure that applies to dual-listed companies will stay in force, and that they can continue to disclose the aggregate compensation of the five highest-paid executives. Other TASE-listed companies are required to publish details of the salary terms of their officers.
Adv. Shirin Herzog, an expert on corporate law at Ron Gazit, Rotenberg & Co., said, "This is another example of a clear trend at the Securities Authority of leniency towards public companies, including relaxations that it has initiated in the matter of Amendment 20."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on August 19, 2013
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