ISA The Israel Securities Authority

The Israel Securities Authority (ISA) is Israel's national securities regulator. It was established in 1968 under Israeli law. Its mandate pulls in two directions at once, and it is meant to: protect the investing public, and help the market develop.

That matters because the capital market is where Israeli companies raise the money they grow on, and where the public gets a share of that growth through its savings.

What the ISA does

Prospectuses. A company asking the public for money needs its offer document reviewed and approved first, so that what investors are told is complete.

Mutual funds. The ISA regulates fund managers and reviews their prospectuses.

Licensing. Portfolio managers, investment advisers and the people who market their services are licensed by the ISA and supervised against the rules of the trade.

The stock exchange. It supervises the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange and how orderly its trading is, and it decides what happens when someone manipulates the market.

Trading platforms. Firms running their own platforms are licensed and supervised here.

Intermediaries. Investment consultants, portfolio managers and underwriters are monitored for whether they keep to the law.

Money laundering. The ISA supervises non-bank financial firms under Israel's Prohibition against Money Laundering Law.

Investigation and enforcement. It can investigate suspected breaches of securities and investment law, impose administrative sanctions, and bring enforcement action.

Accounting standards. With the Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Israel, the ISA funds and runs the Israel Accounting Standards Board, which sets how companies report.

Code of ethics

The ISA holds its own staff to a published code. It names four values: compliance with the law and accountability for its own mandate; professionalism; fairness and transparency in how it communicates and whom it treats how; and respect and co-operation with the people it deals with.

How it is organised

The ISA is run by a plenum. The Minister of Finance appoints its members, who include public representatives and senior people from government with experience in financial regulation.

Below that sit the professional staff — lawyers, economists, accountants, finance and administrative specialists. The mix is deliberate: a prospectus review and a manipulation case need different training.