Tel Aviv bourse says no uncommon buying and selling forward of Oct 7 Hamas assault By Reuters

By Steven Scheer

JERUSALEM (Reuters) -The Tel Aviv Inventory Alternate mentioned on Tuesday a report by U.S. researchers suggesting there have been buyers in Israel who might have profited from prior information of Hamas’ Oct. 7 assault was inaccurate and its publication irresponsible.

Analysis by legislation professors Robert Jackson Jr from New York College and Joshua Mitts of Columbia College discovered vital short-selling of shares – when buyers guess on share costs to fall – main as much as the assaults, which triggered Israel’s ongoing struggle with Hamas.

The exercise, they mentioned, “exceeded the short-selling that occurred throughout quite a few different intervals of disaster” such because the 2008 monetary disaster and COVID-19.

They wrote that for Leumi, Israel’s largest financial institution, 4.43 million shares bought quick over the interval Sept. 14 to Oct. 5 yielded income of three.2 billion shekels ($859 million).

However the Tel Aviv Inventory Alternate (TASE) mentioned the authors miscalculated, since share costs are listed in agorot, that are just like cents and pence, somewhat than shekels – placing the potential quick sale revenue at simply 32 million shekels.

Yaniv Pagot, head of buying and selling on the change, mentioned that in taking a look at quick curiosity in Leumi, there was a rise of some 4.5 million shares within the week ending Sept. 21 and it then remained steady.

“I do not see within the knowledge one thing even near what they wrote within the paper,” Pagot instructed Reuters, including the researchers did not communicate to the TASE or members. “There was nothing uncommon briefly positions within the inventory change within the two months earlier than the assault.”

Mitts instructed Reuters through e-mail that the 67-page report had now been corrected, however that the forex problem didn’t have an effect on the “extremely uncommon” change traded fund (ETF) and short-dated choices exercise additionally recognized by the researchers.

Their report mentioned “quick curiosity within the MSCI Israel Alternate Traded Fund (ETF) out of the blue, and considerably, spiked” on Oct. 2, based mostly on knowledge from the Monetary Trade Regulatory Authority (FINRA).

Pagot mentioned he didn’t perceive “the speculation concerning the ETFs”.

He additionally mentioned the quick place in Leumi was taken by an unidentified Israeli financial institution identified to the TASE.

“We all know their compliance may be very strict so it is unlikely that such a place that got here from a terror organisation can go by this member’s compliance for cash laundering or one thing like that,” he mentioned, referring to media hypothesis that Hamas itself was behind the quick promoting.

Israel’s securities regulator mentioned it had been conscious of the report for every week and was involved with the researchers, however declined to remark whereas it investigates the TASE’s rebuttal.

($1 = 3.7243 shekels)