Stock Exchange Chairman’s Authority and Pay Halved

Amnon Neubach, the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange’s embattled chairman, will have his responsibilities – and compensation – cut by half starting next year, the bourse said Thursday.

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Under an agreement reached with directors earlier in the week, Neubach will only work two days a week and restrict his activities to “management of the board and its committee and to supervision of the bourse’s work,” the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange said in a statement.

His compensation will be cut to 600,000 shekels ($155,000) annually from 1.3 million when he was working as chairman full time.

The decision comes at a time of management upheaval at the TASE and long-term decline in trading volumes. CEO Yossi Beinart reportedly feuded with Neubach before he stepped down due to illness in June. Itai Ben-Zeev, a Bank Leumi executive, is due to take over in the first quarter of next year.

Sources said many on the board blamed Neubach for the turmoil and wanted to oust him. Neubach himself said when Ben-Zeev was named three weeks ago that he would devote himself solely to board activities and establish “clear lines” of power with the incoming CEO.

Despite the tensions, the TASE said the arrangement with Neubach was mutual.

“The bourse’s board and the chairman believe the agreement that was reached in a positive atmosphere that will enable the exchange to continue on its growth trajectory and cope with the many challenges facing it,” the TASE said in a statement.