Online broker E*Trade has launched E*Trade Israel, the company's first retail branded Web site in the Middle East - and twelfth worldwide.
A joint venture with E*Trade Israel Electronic Commerce (1997) Limited, the site offers online trading of equities and warrants on all major US exchanges, including the New York Stock Exchange, Nasdaq and the American Stock Exchange. Later this year, the company plans to add trading on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.
Customers will have access to real-time quotes, news, research, portfolio management tools and educational content with a combination Hebrew and English user interface. Using a multi-currency trading account - with an Israeli Shekel and/or US dollar balance - retail investors will be able to trade directly on the major US stock markets, with orders executed in real-time. Additionally, E*Trade Israel provides free, real-time foreign currency exchange for all US trades.
According to market research firm Taylor Nelson Sofres Teleseker (TNS Teleseker), 19.8 per cent of Israel's population is linked to the Internet. TNS Teleseker also estimates that, of the 1.27 million Israelis who used the Web last year, 20 per cent made online financial transactions.
Arnon Zahavi, CEO of E*Trade Israel, comments: "E*Trade is one of the first international online financial services companies to identify Israel's market potential."