A phase-equivalent transformation of local interaction is generalized to th
e multichannel case in the direct-scattering problem. Generally, the transf
ormation does not change the number of bound states in the system and their
energies. For a special choice of the parameters involved, however, the tr
ansformation removes one of the bound states and is equivalent to the multi
channel supersymmetry transformation recently proposed by J.M. Sparenberg a
nd D. Baye (1997). With the aid of the transformation, it is also possible
to add a bound state to the discrete spectrum of the system at a given ener
gy E < 0 if the angular momentum l <greater than or equal to> 2 in at least
one of the coupled channels. (C) 2000 MAIK "Nauka/Interperiodica".