The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. is going to expand its trading offering to include equities listed in Norway, beginning with 25 companies listed in Norway.
The offering, made possible by MiFID and other regulatory changes, is designed to provide lower trading costs and other benefits for customers seeking to trade all Nordic equities on one platform. NASDAQ OMX will apply the same trading rules and high quality market surveillance to the trading of these new shares as for its other listed shares.
NASDAQ OMX intends to begin offering trading on 23 March 2009. In the first phase, trading will be offered in 25 Norwegian listed shares. In the next phases NASDAQ OMX will extend the trading to the remaining Norwegian listed shares. Trading will take place on NASDAQ OMX Stockholm.
The move is a part of the company’s strategic roadmap for Nordic equities which consists of:
-trading in equities from all Nordic countries on one trading platform,
-introduction of full central counterparty clearing from 9 October 2009, subject to regulatory approval, which will also apply for Norwegian shares,
-introduction of a new trading platform, INET, on 7 December 2009.
We undertake this initiative in light of customer demand, which is dramatically changing the competitive landscape for exchanges, says Hans-Ole Jochumsen, president, NASDAQ OMX Nordic.
We want to extend our trading offering to include shares from all Nordic countries on one trading platform, thereby creating substantial benefits – such as lower cost of trading – to our customers. This will increase the attractiveness of the Nordic equity market.
L.D.